text:
Alexander Lukashenko
|Aleksandr Lukashenko
Lukashenko in July 2015
|President of Belarus
Assumed office
20 July 1994
|Prime Minister
|Preceded by
|Myechyslaw Hryb (Chairman of the Supreme Soviet)
|Chairman of the Supreme State Council of the Union State
Assumed office
26 January 2000
|Preceded by
|Position established
|Deputy to the Supreme Council of the Republic of Belarus
In office
|Personal details
Aleksandr Grigoryevich Lukashenko
30 August 1954
Kopys, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union
(now Belarus)
|Political party
|Galina Zhelnerovich (1975–present)
|Military service
|Years of service
|Marshal of Belarus
Aleksandr Grigoryevich Lukashenko (Belarusian: Алякса́ндр Рыго́равіч Лукашэ́нка , Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka,[1] Russian: Алекса́ндр Григо́рьевич Лукаше́нко;[2] born 30 August 1954) is the President of Belarus, in office since 20 July 1994.[3] Before his career as a politician, Lukashenko worked as director of a state-owned agricultural farm and spent time with the Soviet Border Troops and the Soviet Army. He was the only deputy to vote against the independence of Belarus from the Soviet Union.
Lukashenko opposed Western-backed "shock therapy" during the post-Soviet transition. He has retained Soviet-era policies, such as continued state ownership of key industries, despite objections from Western governments. Observers also contend that Lukashenko presides over a regime steeped in Soviet nostalgia.[4] Belarus has been labeled "Europe's last dictatorship" by some Western journalists,[5][6] on account of Lukashenko's self-described authoritarian style of government.[7][8][9] Lukashenko and other Belarusian officials are also the subject of sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States for alleged human rights violations off and on since 2006.[10][11]
Early life and career (1954–94)
Lukashenko was born on 30 August 1954,[12][13] in the settlement of Kopys in the Vitebsk Oblast of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. His grandfather, Trokhym Lukashenko, had been born in the Sumy Oblast of Ukraine near Shostka (today village of Sobycheve).[14] Lukashenko grew up without a father in his childhood, leading him to be taunted by his schoolmates for having an unmarried mother.[15]
Lukashenko graduated from the Mogilev Pedagogical Institute (now Mogilev State A. Kuleshov University) in 1975 and the Belarusian Agricultural Academy in 1985. He served in the Border Guard (frontier troops) from 1975 to 1977 and in the Soviet Army from 1980 to 1982. In addition, he led an All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (Komsomol) chapter in Mogilev from 1977 to 1978. While in the Soviet Army, Lukashenko was an officer of the 120th Guards Motor Rifle Division, which was based in Minsk.[16] After leaving the military, he became the deputy chairman of a collective farm in 1982 and in 1985. He was promoted to the post of director of the Gorodets state farm and construction materials plant in the Shklov district.[17]
In 1990, Lukashenko was elected Deputy to the Supreme Council of the Republic of Belarus. He was the only deputy of the Belarusian parliament who voted against ratification of the December 1991 agreement that dissolved the Soviet Union and set up the Commonwealth of Independent States.[18] Having acquired a reputation as an eloquent opponent of corruption, Lukashenko was elected in 1993 to serve as the chairman of the anti-corruption committee of the Belarusian parliament.[18] In late 1993 he accused 70 senior government officials, including the Supreme Soviet chairman Stanislav Shushkevich and prime minister Vyacheslav Kebich, of corruption including stealing state funds for personal purposes. While the charges were never fully proven against him, Shushkevich resigned his chairmanship due to the embarrassment of the series of events and losing a vote of no-confidence.[19][20]
A new Belarusian constitution enacted in early 1994 paved the way for the first--and to date, only--democratic presidential election on 23 June and 10 July. Six candidates stood in the first round, including Lukashenko, who campaigned as an independent on a populist platform of "defeat the mafia against the Conspiracy of New World Order and Zionism".[21] Shushkevich and Kebich also ran, with the latter regarded as the clear favorite.[22] Lukashenko won 45.1% of the vote while Kebich received 17.4%, Zyanon Paznyak received 12.9% and Shushkevich, along with two other candidates, received less than 10% of votes.[22] Lukashenko won the second round of the election on 10 July with 80.1% of the vote.[22][23] Shortly after his election, he addressed the State Duma of the Russian Federation in Moscow proposing a new Union of Slavic states, which would culminate in the creation of the Union State in 1999.[24]
President of Belarus
First term (1994–2001)
In May 1995, Belarus held a referendum on changing its national symbols; the referendum also made the Russian language equal to Belarusian, and forged closer economic ties to Russia. Lukashenko was also given the ability to disband the Supreme Soviet by decree.[25] In the summer of 1996, deputies of the 199-member Belarusian parliament signed a petition to impeach Lukashenko on charges of violating the Constitution.[26] Shortly after that, a referendum was held on 24 November 1996 in which four questions were offered by Lukashenko and three offered by a group of Parliament members. The questions ranged from social issues (changing independence day to 3 July, abolition of the death penalty) to the national constitution. As a result of the referendum, the constitution that was amended by Lukashenko was accepted and the one amended by the Supreme Soviet was voided. The new document dramatically increased Lukashenko's power and transformed his presidency into a de facto legal dictatorship. His decrees now had the force of law, and he also acquired near-total control over government spending. On 25 November, it was announced that 70.5% of voters, of an 84% turnout, had approved the amended constitution. The US and the EU, however, refused to accept the legitimacy of the referendum.[27][28]
After the referendum, Lukashenko convened a new parliamentary assembly from those members of the parliament who were loyal to him.[29] After between ten and twelve deputies withdrew their signature from the impeachment petition, only about forty deputies of the old parliament were left and the Supreme Soviet was dismissed by Lukashenko.[30] Nevertheless, international organizations and many Western countries do not recognize the current parliament given the way it was formed.[31][32] At the start of 1998, the Central Bank of Russia suspended trading in the Belarusian ruble, which led to a collapse in the value of the currency. Lukashenko responded by taking control of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus, sacking the entire bank leadership and blaming the West for the free fall of the currency.[33]
Lukashenko blamed foreign governments for conspiring against him and, in April 1998, expelled ambassadors from the Drazdy complex near Minsk and moved them to another building. The Drazdy conflict caused an international outcry and resulted in a travel ban on Lukashenko from the EU and the US.[34] Although the ambassadors eventually returned after the controversy died down, Lukashenko stepped up his rhetorical attacks against the West. He stated that Western governments were trying to undermine Belarus at all levels, even sports, during the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.[35]
Upon the outbreak of the Kosovo War in 1999, Lukashenko suggested to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević that Yugoslavia join the Union of Russia and Belarus.[36]
Second term (2001–06)
Belarus held another presidential election on 9 September 2001. Under the original constitution, this election should have been held in 1999, but the 1996 referendum extended Lukashenko's term for an additional two years. Lukashenko faced Vladimir Goncharik and Sergei Gaidukevich in the election.[37] During the campaign, Lukashenko promised to raise the standards of farming, social benefits and increase industrial output of Belarus.[38] Lukashenko won in the first round with 75.65% of the vote. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said the process "failed to meet international standards".[38] Jane's Intelligence Digest surmised that the price of Russian support for Lukashenko ahead of the 2001 presidential elections was the surrender of Minsk's control over its section of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline.[39] After the results were announced declaring Lukashenko the winner, Russia publicly welcomed Lukashenko's re-election; the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, telephoned Lukashenko and offered a message of congratulations and support.[38]
Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, American intelligence agencies reported that aides of Saddam Hussein managed to acquire Belarusian passports while in Syria, but that it was unlikely that Belarus would offer a safe haven for Saddam and his two sons.[40] This action, along with arms deals with Iraq and Iran, prompted Western governments to take a tougher stance against Lukashenko. The US was particularly angered by the arms sales, and American political leaders increasingly began to refer to Belarus as "Europe's last dictatorship".[41] The EU was concerned for the security of its gas supplies from Russia, which are piped through Belarus, and took an active interest in Belarusian affairs. With the accession of Poland, Latvia and Lithuania, the EU's border with Belarus has grown to more than 1000 kilometers.[42]
During a televised address to the nation on 7 September 2004, Lukashenko announced plans for a referendum to eliminate presidential term limits. This was held on 17 October 2004, the same day as parliamentary elections, and, according to official results, was approved by 79.42% of voters. Previously, Lukashenko had been limited to two terms and thus would have been constitutionally required to step down after the presidential elections in 2006.[15][43] Opposition groups, the OSCE, the European Union, and the US State Department stated that the vote fell short of international standards. An example of the failure, cited by the OSCE, was the pre-marking of ballots.[43] Belarus grew economically under Lukashenko, but much of this growth was due to Russian crude oil which was imported at below-market prices, refined, and sold to other European countries at a profit.[15]
2006 presidential election
After Lukashenko confirmed he was running for re-election in 2005, opposition groups began to seek a single candidate. On 16 October 2005, on the Day of Solidarity With Belarus, the political groups Zubr and Third Way Belarus encouraged all opposition parties to rally behind one candidate to oppose Lukashenko in the 2006 election. Their chosen candidate was Alexander Milinkevich.[44] Lukashenko reacted by saying that anyone going to opposition protests would have their necks wrung "as one might a duck".[15] On 19 March 2006, exit polls showed Lukashenko winning a third term in a landslide, amid opposition reports of vote-rigging and fear of violence. The EcooM organisation gave Lukashenko 84.2% of the vote and Milinkevich just 2%, while the Belarusian Republican Youth Union gave Lukashenko 84.2% and Milinkevich 3.1%. The Gallup Organisation noted that EcooM and the Belarusian Republican Youth Union are government-controlled and both released their exit poll results before noon on election day even though voting stations did not close until 8 pm.[45]
Belarusian authorities vowed to prevent any large-scale demonstrations following the election (such as those that marked the Orange Revolution in Ukraine). Despite their efforts, the opposition had the largest number of demonstrators in years, with nightly protests in Minsk continuing for a number days after the election. The largest protest occurred on election night; reporters for the Associated Press estimated that approximately 10,000 people turned out.[46] Election observers from the Russia-led Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) differed on the Belarusian election.[47] The OSCE declared on 20 March 2006 that the "presidential election failed to meet OSCE commitments for democratic elections." Lukashenko "permitted State authority to be used in a manner which did not allow citizens to freely and fairly express their will at the ballot box... a pattern of intimidation and the suppression of independent voices... was evident throughout the campaign."[48] The heads of all 25 EU countries declared that the election was "fundamentally flawed".[49] In contrast, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs declared, "Long before the elections, the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights had declared that they [the elections] would be illegitimate and it was pretty biased in its commentaries on their progress and results, thus playing an instigating role."[49] Lukashenko later stated that he had rigged the election results, but against himself, in order to obtain a majority more typical of European countries. Although he had won 93.5% of the vote, he said, he had directed the government to announce a result of 86%.[50][51]
Some Russian nationalists, such as Dmitry Rogozin and the Movement Against Illegal Immigration, stated that they would like to see Lukashenko become President of Russia in 2008. Lukashenko responded that he would not run for the Russian presidency, but that if his health was still good, he might run for reelection in 2011.[52]
Third term (2006–11)
In September 2008, parliamentary elections were held. Lukashenko had allowed some opposition candidates to stand, though in the official results, opposition members failed to get a seat out of the available 110. OSCE observers described the vote as "flawed", including "several cases of deliberate falsification of results".[53] Opposition members and supporters demonstrated in protest.[53] According to the Nizhny Novgorod-based CIS election observation mission, the findings of which are often dismissed by the West,[54] the elections in Belarus conformed to international standards.[55] Lukashenko later commented that the opposition in Belarus was financed by foreign countries and was not needed.[56]
In April 2009, he held talks with Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican, Lukashenko's first visit to Western Europe after a travel ban on him a decade earlier.[57]
2010 presidential election
Lukashenko was one of ten candidates registered for the presidential election held in Belarus on 19 December 2010. Though originally envisaged for 2011, an earlier date was approved "to ensure the maximum participation of citizens in the electoral campaign and to set most convenient time for the voters".[58] The run-up to the campaign was marked by a series of Russian media attacks on Lukashenko.[59] The Central Election Committee said that all nine opposition figures were likely to get less than half the vote total that Lukashenko would get.[60] Though opposition figures alleged intimidation[61] and that "dirty tricks" were being played, the election was seen as comparatively open as a result of desire to improve relations with both Europe and the US.[60]
On election day, two presidential candidates were seriously beaten by police[62] in different opposition rallies.[63][64][65] On the night of the election, opposition protesters chanting "Out!," "Long live Belarus!" and other similar slogans attempted to storm the building of the government of Belarus, smashing windows and doors before riot police were able to push them back.[66] The number of protesters was reported by major news media as being around or above 10,000 people.[67][68][69][70] At least seven of the opposition presidential candidates were arrested.[62]
Several of the opposition candidates, along with their supporters and members of the media, were arrested. Many were sent to prison, often on charges of organizing a mass disturbance. Examples include Andrei Sannikov,[71] Alexander Otroschenkov,[72] Ales Michalevic,[73] Mikola Statkevich,[74] and Uladzimir Nyaklyayew.[75] Sannikov's wife, journalist Irina Khalip, was put under house arrest.[76] Yaraslau Ramanchuk's party leader, Anatoly Lebedko, was also arrested.[77]
The CEC said that Lukashenko won 79.65% of the vote (he gained 5,130,557 votes) with 90.65% of the electorate voting.[78] The OSCE categorized the elections as "flawed" while the CIS mission observers praised them as "free and transparent".[79] However, the OSCE also stated that some improvements were made in the run-up to the election, including the candidates' use of television debates and ability to deliver their messages unhindered.[80] Several European foreign ministers issued a joint statement calling the election and its aftermath an "unfortunate step backwards in the development of democratic governance and respect for human rights in Belarus."[81]
Lukashenko's inauguration ceremony of 22 January 2011 was boycotted by EU ambassadors, and only thirty-two foreign diplomats attended.[82][83] During this ceremony, Lukashenko defended the legitimacy of his re-election and vowed that Belarus would never have its own version of the Orange Revolution or Georgia's 2003 Rose Revolution.[82] Effective 31 January 2011, the EU renewed a travel ban, prohibiting Lukashenko and 156 of his associates from traveling to EU member countries, as a result of the crackdown on opposition supporters.[84][85][86]
2015 presidential election
Domestic policy
Lukashenko promotes himself as a "man of the people." Due to his style of rule, he is often informally referred to as бацька (bats'ka, "daddy").[41] He was elected chairman of the Belarusian Olympic Committee in 1997.[87] Lukashenko wanted to rebuild Belarus when he took office;[88] the economy was in freefall, due to declining industry and lack of demand for Belarusian goods.[89] Lukashenko kept many industries under the control of the government, and privatization was slowed.[90] In 2001, he stated his intention to improve the social welfare of his citizens and to make Belarus "powerful and prosperous."[91]
The economy of Belarus has been in a state of flux since Lukashenko's election in 1994. His economic policies aimed to prevent issues that occurred in other former Soviet states, such as the establishment of oligarchic structures and mass unemployment.[92] The unemployment rate for the country at the end of 2011 was at 0.6% of the population (of 6.86 million eligible workers), a decrease from 1995, when unemployment was 2.9% with a working-eligible population of 5.24 million.[93] The per-capita Gross national income rose from US$1,423 in 1993 to US$5,830 at the end of 2011.[94] One major economic issue Lukashenko faced throughout his presidency was the value of the Belarusian ruble. For a time it was pegged to major foreign currencies, such as the euro, US dollar and the Russian ruble in order to maintain the stability of the Belarusian ruble.[95] Yet, the currency has experienced free fall and also several rounds of devaluation. A major devaluation took place in 2011 after the government announced that average salaries would increase to US$500.[96] The 2011 devaluation was the largest on record for the past twenty years according to the World Bank.[97] Belarus also had to seek a bailout from international sources, and while it has received loans from China, receiving loans from the IMF and other agencies depend on how Belarus reforms its economy according to standards set by the IMF and other agencies.[98][99]
Some critics of Lukashenko, including the opposition group Zubr, use the term Lukashism to refer to the political and economic system Lukashenko has implemented in Belarus.[100] The term is also used more broadly to refer to an authoritarian ideology based on a cult of his personality and nostalgia for Soviet times among certain groups in Belarus.[101][102] The US Congress sought to aid the opposition groups by passing the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004 to introduce sanctions against Lukashenko's government and provide financial and other support to the opposition.[4] Lukashenko supporters argue that his rule spared Belarus the turmoil that beset many other former Soviet countries.[103][104] Lukashenko commented on the criticism of him by saying: "I've been hearing these accusations for over 10 years and we have got used to it. We are not going to answer them. I want to come from the premise that the elections in Belarus are held for ourselves. I am sure that it is the Belarusian people who are the masters in our state."[105]
Since the November 1996 referendum, Lukashenko has effectively held all governing power in the nation. If the House of Representatives rejects his choice for prime minister twice, he has the right to dissolve it. His decrees have greater weight than ordinary legislation. He also has near-absolute control over government spending; parliament can only increase or decrease spending with his permission. However, the legislature is dominated by his supporters in any event, and there is no substantive opposition to presidential decisions. He also appoints eight members of the upper house, the Council of the Republic, as well as nearly all judges.
Foreign policy
Lukashenko's relationship with the EU has been strained, in part by choice and in part by his policies towards domestic opponents. Lukashenko's repression of opponents caused him to be called "Europe's last dictator" and resulted in the EU imposing visa sanctions on him and a range of Belarusian officials. At times, the EU has lifted sanctions as a way to encourage dialogue or gain concessions from Lukashenko.[106] Since the EU adopted this policy of "change through engagement", it has supported economic and political reforms to help integrate the Belarusian state.[107]
Lukashenko's relationship with Russia, once his powerful ally and vocal supporter, has significantly deteriorated. The run-up to the 2010 Belarusian presidential election was marked by a series of Russian media attacks on Lukashenko.[59] Throughout July state-controlled channel NTV broadcast a multi-part documentary entitled "The Godfather" highlighting the suspicious disappearance of a number of opposition leaders during the late 1990s.[108] Lukashenko called the media attack "dirty propaganda".[109]
His policies have been praised by some other world leaders and are seen as a model for at least one country. In response to a question about Belarus's domestic policies, President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela said "We see here a model social state like the one we are beginning to create."[110] Chairman of the Chinese Standing Committee of National People's Congress Wu Bangguo noted that Belarus has been rapidly developing under Lukashenko.[111] Lithuanian MPs have also praised the Belarusian economy and its contribution to the Lithuanian economy; Stanislovas Gedraitis said that he was in awe of the Belarusian progress created mostly by the efforts of the national leader.[112]
During the 2014 crisis in Ukraine, Alexander Lukashenko became a critic of Russian policy and interferences in Ukraine's internal affairs. Lukashenko criticized the Donbass status referendums and the idea of federalization, and proclaimed support for the government in Kiev. During the 9 May celebration, Lukashenko spoke in Belarusian instead of Russian for the first time. Later he arranged a meeting between Ukraine's president Petro Poroshenko and Russian president Vladimir Putin.[113] The Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza has written about Lukashenko's transformation from " the last dictator in Europe to acceptable peacemaker".[114]
In 2015, Lukashenko sought to improve trade relations between Belarus and Latin America.[115]
Controversial statements
In 1995, Lukashenko was accused of making a remark which has been construed to be in praise of Adolf Hitler: "The history of Germany is a copy of the history of Belarus. Germany was raised from ruins thanks to firm authority and not everything connected with that well-known figure Hitler was bad. German order evolved over the centuries and attained its peak under Hitler."[116]
In October 2007, Lukashenko was accused of making anti-Semitic and anti-Israel comments; addressing the "miserable state of the city of Babruysk" on a live broadcast on state radio, he stated: "This is a Jewish city, and the Jews are not concerned for the place they live in. They have turned Babruysk into a pigsty. Look at Israel – I was there and saw it myself ... I call on Jews who have money to come back to Babruysk."[117][118] Members of the US House of Representatives sent a letter to the Belarusian ambassador to the US, Mikhail Khvostov, addressing Lukashenko's comments with a strong request to retract them,[119] and the comments also caused a negative reaction from Israel.[120] Consequently, Pavel Yakubovich, editor of Belarus Today, was sent to Israel, and in a meeting with the Israel Foreign Ministry said that Lukashenko's comment was "a mistake that was said jokingly, and does not represent his positions regarding the Jewish people" and that he was "anything but anti-Semitic," and had been "insulted by the mere accusation."[121] The Belarusian Ambassador to Israel, Igor Leshchenya, stated that the president had a "kind attitude toward the Jewish people", and Sergei Rychenko, the press secretary at the Belarusian Embassy in Tel Aviv, said parts of Lukashenko's comments had been mistranslated.[122]
On 4 March 2012, two days after EU leaders (including openly gay German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle) had called for new measures to pressure Lukashenko over alleged human rights abuses in Belarus at a summit in Brussels, Lukashenko provoked diplomatic rebuke from Germany after commenting that it was "better to be a dictator than gay"[123] in response to Westerwelle having referred to him as "Europe's last dictator" during the meeting.[6][124]
In 2014, Lukashenko gave a speech to the Belorussian parliament, revealing that the war in Iraq was about oil for the USA which was heavily censored and removed from Western mainstream media. He stated that a western politician visited him, coercing him, attempting to buy him off by telling him to lie to the international community, saying that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. [125]
Personal life
Lukashenko married Galina Zhelnerovich, his high school sweetheart, in 1975.[126] Later that year his oldest son, Viktor, was born.[126] Their second son, Dzmitry, was born in 1980.[126] Galina lives separately in the family's house in the village near Shklov.[126] Though they are still legally married, Galina Lukashenko has been estranged from her husband since shortly after he became president.[127] His son Viktor is a 'national security aide'; according to one foreign tabloid newspaper Lukashenko has dismissed him in public as "a useless weakling who will soon become even weaker".[126]
Lukashenko fathered an illegitimate son, Nikolai, who was born in 2004.[126] Though never confirmed by the government, it is widely believed that the child's mother is Irina Abelskaya – the two had an affair when she was Lukashenko's personal doctor.[126][128] It has been reported by Western observers and media that Nikolai, nicknamed "Kolya", is being groomed as Lukashenko's successor.[129][130] According to Belarusian state media, these speculations were dismissed by Lukashenko, who also denied that he would remain in office for a further thirty years – the time Nikolai will become eligible to stand for election and succeed him.[131]
Lukashenko believes that the president should be a conservative person and avoid using modern electronic gadgets such as an iPad or iPhone.[132] He used to play bayan and football, but abandoned both during his presidency.[133] He is a keen skier and ice hockey forward, who played exhibition games alongside international hockey stars.[134][135][136] His two elder sons also play hockey, sometimes alongside their father.[137]
Lukashenko started training in cross-country as a child, and in the 2000s still competed at the national level.[138]
He has received an invitation to the 2016 Bandy World Championship and is considering going there.[139]
Orders and honors
- Winner of the international premium of Andrey Pervozvanny "For Faith and Loyalty" (1995)[140]
- The Order of José Marti (Cuba, 2000)[141]
- Order of the Revolution (Libya, 2000)[142]
- Special prize of the International Olympic Committee "Gates of Olympus" (2000)[143]
- Order "For Services to the Fatherland", 2nd Class (Russia, 2001)[144]
- Honorary citizen of Yerevan, Armenia (2001)[145]
- Order of St. Dmitry Donskoy, First Degree (2005)[146]
- Medal of the International Federation of Festival Organizations "For development of the world festival movement" (2005)[147]
- Order of St. Cyril (by the Belarusian Orthodox Church) (2006)[148]
- Honorary Diploma of the Eurasian Economic Community (2006)[149]
- Order of St. Vladimir, First Degree (2007)[150]
- Keys to the City of Caracas, Venezuela (2010)[151]
- Order of Distinguished Citizen (Caracas, Venezuela; 2010)[152]
- Order of the Republic of Serbia (2013)[153][154]
- Order of Alexander Nevsky (2014)[155]
- ↑ pronounced [alʲaˈksand(a)r rɨˈɣɔravʲitʂ lukaˈʂɛnka]; 2007 national transliteration Aliaksandr Ryhoravič Lukašenka, BGN/PCGN romanization of Belarusian Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka; Taraškievica orthography: Алякса́ндар Рыго́равіч Лукашэ́нка, Łacinka: Alaksandar Ryhoravič Łukašenka;
- ↑ Pron. [ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɡrʲɪˈɡorʲjɪvʲɪtɕ lʊkɐˈʂɛnkə]; BGN/PCGN romanization of Russian Aleksandr Grigorevich Lukashenko
- ↑ "Belarus – Government". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. 18 December 2008. Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
- 1 2 Office of the Press secretary (20 October 2004). "Statement on the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004". The White House. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ↑ Rausing, Sigrid (7 October 2012). "Belarus: inside Europe's last dictatorship". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
- 1 2 "Belarus's Lukashenko: "Better a dictator than gay"". Berlin. Reuters. 4 March 2012.
...German Foreign Minister's branding him 'Europe's last dictator'
- ↑ "Profile: Alexander Lukashenko". BBC News. BBC. 9 January 2007. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
'..an authoritarian ruling style is characteristic of me [Lukashenko]'
- ↑ "Essential Background – Belarus". Human Rights Watch. 2005. Retrieved 26 March 2006.
- ↑ "Human rights by country – Belarus". Amnesty International Report 2007. Amnesty International. 2007. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2007.
- ↑ "COUNCIL DECISION 2012/642/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Belarus" (PDF). Official Journal of the European Union. Council of the European Union. 15 October 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ↑ Department of the Treasury (5 December 2012). "Belarus Sanctions". Government of the United States. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ↑ Скандал! Лукашенко изменил биографию (видео и фото) » UDF.BY | Новости Беларуси | Объединённые демократические силы. UDF.BY. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
- ↑ Официальный интернет-портал Президента Республики Беларусь/Биография. President.gov.by (11 May 1998). Retrieved 13 April 2011.
- ↑ Малишевский, Виктор; Ульяна Бобоед (15 August 2003). В Минск из Канады летит троюродный племянник Лукашенко. Комсомольской Правды в Белоруссии (in Russian). Retrieved 28 December 2008.
- 1 2 3 4 "Alexander Lukashenko: Dictator with a difference". The Daily Telegraph. London. 25 September 2008. Archived from the original on 26 September 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
- ↑ "President Visits New Swimming Complex in Minsk". President of the Republic of Belarus. 20 September 2007. Archived from the original on 10 November 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ↑ "Biographical profile of the President". President of the Republic of Belarus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 17 October 2007.
- 1 2 Spector, Michael (25 June 1994). "Belarus Voters Back Populist in Protest at the Quality of Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 October 2007.
- ↑ Savchenko, Andrew (15 May 2009). "Borderland Forever: Modern Belarus". Belarus: A Perpetual Borderland. Brill Academic Pub. p. 179. ISBN 978-9004174481.
- ↑ Jeffries, Ian (4 March 2004). "Belarus". The Countries of the Former Soviet Union at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century: The Baltic and European States in Transition. Routledge Studies of Societies in Transition. Routledge. p. 266. ISBN 978-0415252300.
- ↑ Jeffries, Ian (2004). The Countries of the Former Soviet Union at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century: The Baltic and European States in Transition. Psychology Press. p. 266. ISBN 9780415252300.
- 1 2 3 White, Stephen; Korosteleva, Elena; John, Löwenhardt (2005). "Ronald J. Hill". Postcommunist Belarus. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 6–7.
- ↑ Country Studies Belarus – Prelude to Independence. Library of Congress. Retrieved 21 March 2007.
- ↑ Alyaksandr Lukashenka in: Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, 2009
- ↑ Central Election Commission of the Republic of Belarus 1995 Referendum Questions (Russian) Archived 18 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Babkina, Marina (19 November 1996). "Lukashenko Defies Impeachment Move". AP New Archives. Associated Press. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ↑ "Observers deplore Belarus vote". BBC News. 18 October 2004. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ↑ Центральной комиссии Республики Беларусь по выборам и проведению республиканских референдумов. rec.gov.by (1996)
- ↑ Bekus, Nelly (2012). Struggle over Identity: The Official and the Alternative "Belarusianness". Central European University Press. pp. 103–4. ISBN 978-9639776685.
- ↑ Belarus: The Last European Dictatorship – Andrew Wilson.
- ↑ U.S. Relations With Belarus. US Department of State. 19 February 2014
- ↑ Poland's Role in the Development of an 'Eastern Dimension' of the European Union – Andreas Lorek. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
- ↑ BBC Belarus appoints new national bank chief. 21 March 1998.
- ↑ Maksymiuk, Jan (22 July 1998). "Eu punishes Belarusian leadership". RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 2, No. 139, 98-07-22. From: Radio Free Europe/Radio Libert. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ↑ "Poor Showing Reportedly Riles Ruler of Belarus". The Washington Post. Associated Press. 20 February 1998. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ↑ "The Statement of the Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko". Serbia Info News. Ministry of Information of the Republic of Serbia. 15 April 1999. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ↑ "Contemporary Belarus: Between Democracy and Dictatorship" (London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003), with R. Marsh and C. Lawson
- 1 2 3 "Lukashenko claims victory in Belarus election". USA Today. 10 September 2001. Retrieved 17 October 2007.
- ↑ Standish, M J A (11 January 2006). "Editor's notes." Jane's Intelligence Digest.
- ↑ "Saddam aides may flee to Belarus: report". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 24 June 2003. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- 1 2 "Profile: Europe's last dictator?". BBC News. 10 September 2001. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ↑ "Belarus Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov interview for The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung – Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus". Mfa.gov.by. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- 1 2 "Observers deplore Belarus vote". BBC News. 18 October 2004. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ↑ Collin, Matthew (3 October 2005). "Belarus opposition closes ranks". BBC News. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ↑ Staff writer (20 March 2006). "Gallup/Baltic Surveys announces impossibility of independent and reliable exit polls under present conditions in Belarus". Charter'97. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ↑ "Incumbent Declared Winner of Belarus Vote". Athens Banner-Herald. Associated Press. 20 March 2006. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
The gathering was the biggest the opposition had mustered in years, reaching at least 10,000 before it started thinning out, according to AP reporters' estimates.
- ↑ Staff Writer (21 March 2006). "CIS, OSCE observers differ on Belarus vote". People's Daily. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
Election observers from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) declared the Belarus presidential vote open and transparent on Monday. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) did not assess the election positively.
- ↑ Kramer, David (21 March 2006). "Ballots on the Frontiers of Freedom: Elections in Belarus and Ukraine". United States Department of State. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- 1 2 "West slams Belarus crackdown". CNN. 24 March 2006. Archived from the original on 28 April 2007. Retrieved 17 October 2007.
- ↑ Лукашенко: Последние выборы мы сфальсифицировали (in Russian). BelaPAN. 23 November 2006. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ↑ "Poland, Belarus & Ukraine Report". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 28 November 2006. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- ↑ Staff writer (28 February 2007). "Rightist Group Promote Belarus Dictator Lukashenko as Russian Presidential Candidate". MosNews. Archived from the original on 28 February 2007. Retrieved 11 July 2007.
- 1 2 "Belarus clean sweep poll 'flawed'", BBC News, 29 September 2008.
- ↑ "CIS: Monitoring The Election Monitors". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 2 April 2005. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
- ↑ "CIS observers: Belarus' elections meet international standards" (in Russian). National Center of Legal Information of the Republic of Belarus. 29 September 2008. Archived from the original on 17 June 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2008.
- ↑ "Opposition gewinnt keinen einzigen Sitz – Proteste in Weißrussland". Der Spiegel (in German). 29 September 2008. Archived from the original on 3 October 2008. Retrieved 30 September 2008.
- ↑ Belarus leader meets Pope in landmark trip. Agence France-Presse. Google News (27 April 2009). Retrieved 19 May 2012.
- ↑ Belarus sets date of presidential election for 19 December 2010. News.belta.by (14 September 2010). Retrieved 19 May 2012.
- 1 2 RFE/RL. Has Moscow Had Enough Of Belarus's Lukashenka?. (19 July 2010).
- 1 2 "'Dirty tricks' taint Belarus vote". Al Jazeera. 18 December 2010. Archived from the original on 20 December 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
- ↑ "Activist fears over Belarus vote". Al Jazeera. 19 December 2010. Archived from the original on 23 December 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
- 1 2 "'Hundreds of protesters arrested' in Belarus". BBC News. 20 December 2010. Archived from the original on 21 December 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
- ↑ "Police break up opposition rally after Belarus poll". BBC News. 19 December 2010. Archived from the original on 19 December 2010. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
- ↑ "Two Belarus presidential candidates say attacked by special forces". RIA Novosti. 19 December 2010. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
- ↑ "Спецназ избил двух кандидатов в президенты Белоруссии; Некляев без сознания". Gazeta.ru. 19 December 2010. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
- ↑ "Protesters try to storm government HQ in Belarus". BBC News. 20 December 2010. Archived from the original on 20 December 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
- ↑ "Belarus president re-elected". Al Jazeera. 20 December 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
- ↑ "Protesters try to storm government HQ in Belarus". BBC. 20 December 2010. Archived from the original on 26 January 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
- ↑ "Belarus' Lukashenko re-elected, police crackdown". Reuters. 19 December 2010. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
- ↑ "Hundreds arrested in Belarus protests". Financial Times. 20 December 2010. Archived from the original on 13 January 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
- ↑ "BBC News – Leading Belarus dissident Sannikov gets UK asylum". Bbc.co.uk. 26 October 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
- ↑ "Center for Public Scholarship :: Alexander Otroschenkov". Newschool.edu. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
- ↑ "RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY | Media Advisory – Exiled Belarusian presidential candidate Ales Michalevic to visit Toronto". Newswire.ca. 23 November 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
- ↑ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (1 June 2011). "Jailed Belarusian opposition leader not allowed to see wife, father". Refworld. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
- ↑ Foreign Policy and Security Research (15 November 2011). "Swedish PEN awards prize to Uladzimir Nyaklyayew". forsecurity.org. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
- ↑ Taylor, Jerome (15 February 2013). "Captive Belarusian journalist Irina Khalip allowed to visit husband in Britain – Europe – World". The Independent. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
- ↑ Interview by Stephen Browne (21 February 2011). "BELARUSIAN DISSIDENT JAROSLAV ROMANCHUK". TheAtlasSphere.com. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
- ↑ СООБЩЕНИЕ об итогах выборов Президента Республики Беларусь (PDF) (in Russian). Central Election Commission of Belarus. 5 January 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 January 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2010.
- ↑ "Belarus vote count 'flawed' says OSCE | RIA Novosti". RIA Novosti. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
- ↑ "Belarus still has considerable way to go in meeting OSCE commitments, despite certain improvements, election observers say". OSCE. 20 December 2010. Archived from the original on 23 December 2010. Retrieved 26 December 2010.
- ↑ Lukashenko the Loser. Joint letter of Foreign Ministers of Germany, Sweden, Poland and Czech Republic. NYTimes (24 December 2010)
- 1 2 Lukashenko Growls at Inauguration, The Moscow Times (24 January 2011)
- ↑ "32 foreign diplomats to attend Lukashenko inauguration | World | RIA Novosti". En.rian.ru. 20 January 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
- ↑ Dempsey, Judy (2 January 2011). U.S. and E.U. Join to Show Support for Belarus Opposition. New York Times
- ↑ The European Union has News for Belarus's Alexander Lukashenko: You're Grounded. macleans.ca (17 February 2011).
- ↑ COUNCIL DECISION 2011/69/CFSP. Official Journal of the European Union. (31 January 2011).
- ↑ "NOC RB". National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus. 2002. Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ↑ "Lukashenko's first term as president". Brussels Review. 16 March 2006. Archived from the original on 20 October 2007. Retrieved 21 October 2007.
- ↑ "Belarus – Industry". Country Studies. Library of Congress. 1995. Retrieved 8 October 2007.
- ↑ Karatnycky, Adrian; Alexander J. Motyl; Amanda Schnetzer (2001). Nations in Transit, 2001. Transaction Publishers. p. 101. ISBN 0-7658-0897-8.
- ↑ "Lukashenko Sworn in as Belarusian President". People's Daily. 21 September 2001. Retrieved 17 October 2007.
- ↑ "The official internet-portal of the President of the Republic of Belarus/State Policy". President.gov.by. 11 May 1998. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ↑ "Labour". Belstat.gov.by. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ↑ "Belarus | Data". World Bank. 30 November 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ↑ "National Bank to peg Belarusian ruble to foreign currency system in 2009 – Economy / News / Belarus Belarusian Belarus today | Minsk BELTA – Belarus Belarusian Belarus today | Minsk BELTA". News.belta.by. 17 June 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
- ↑ "Belarus Plans New Ruble Devaluation | RIA Novosti". RIA Novosti. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ↑ "Ruble devaluation spreads panic among Belarusians". People's Daily. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ↑ "Belarus eyes new IMF loans – Xinhua | English.news.cn". Xinhua News Agency. 30 October 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ↑ "BBC News – RBS agrees to end work for Belarus". BBC. 29 August 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ↑ Potupa, Aleksandr (2 May 1997). "Lukashism" has the potential to spread beyond Belarus. Prism Volume: 3 Issue: 6.
- ↑ Dubina, Yuras (1998). "A museum to commemorate victims of communism". Belarus Now. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
Belarusian MPs propose to dedicate a section in the future museum to Lukashism
- ↑ "Beware of Lukashism!". Zubr. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ↑ Pavlov, Nikolai (27 March 2006). "Belarus protesters go on trial as new rallies loom". Belarus News and Analysis. Archived from the original on 9 October 2006. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ↑ The Belarus Democracy Act of 2004. house.gov. 20 October 2004
- ↑ Staff writer (9 January 2007). "Profile: Alexander Lukashenko". BBC News. Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ↑ Czachor, Rafał (2011) Polityka zagraniczna Republiki Białoruś w latach 1991–2011. Studium politologiczne, Wydawnictwo DWSPiT, Polkowice, p. 299, ISBN 978-83-61234-72-2
- ↑ Makhovsky, Andrei. "Belarus leader calls for dialogue with European Union". Reuters. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ↑ RFE/RL. Is Lukashenka In The Kremlin's Crosshairs?. (8 July 2010).
- ↑ RFE/RL. Lukashenka Calls Russian Media Attacks 'Dirty Propaganda' . (29 July 2010).
- ↑ "Chavez forges ties with Belarus". BBC News. 25 July 2005. Archived from the original on 16 November 2007. Retrieved 17 October 2007.
- ↑ "China Praises Lukashenko for His Successful Opposition to the West". The China Times. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
- ↑ "Lithuanian MPs praise Lukashenko – Charter'97 :: News from Belarus – Belarusian News – Republic of Belarus – Minsk". Charter97.org. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
- ↑ Sinitsyn, Maksim (22 May 2014) Лукашенко предупредил Россию о войне. utro.ru.
- ↑ Z diktátora mírotvorcem: Lukašenko vydělá na pořádání schůzky Putina s Porošenkem. novinky.cz. 25 August 2014
- ↑ "Lukashenko highlights Belarus' cooperation with Latin America". Belarusian News. 25 June 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
- ↑ "Bigotry in Belarus". The Jerusalem Post. 20 October 2007. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
- ↑ In 1926 there were 21,558 Jews in Babruysk or 42% of the town's population; by 1989, they numbered just over 4% and by 1999 a mere 0.6%. See Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus
- ↑ Sofer, Ronny (18 October 2007). "Belarus president attacks Jews". Ynet News. Yedioth Internet. Archived from the original on 20 October 2007. Retrieved 19 October 2007.
- ↑ "Kirk-Hastings Letter Calls on Belarusian President to Apologize for Blatantly Anti-Semitic Remarks". Office of Rep. Mark Steven Kirk. 2007. Archived from the original on 3 November 2007. Retrieved 1 November 2007.
- ↑ "FM Livni condemns anti-Semitic remarks made by Belarusian President". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 18 October 2007. Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 19 October 2007.
- ↑ "News in Brief". Haaretz. 31 October 2007. Retrieved 1 November 2007.
- ↑ "Belarus to send envoy to Israel". The Jerusalem Post. 25 October 2007. Retrieved 1 November 2007.
- ↑ Germany rebukes Lukashenko over anti-gay comment | euronews, world news. Euronews.com (5 March 2012). Retrieved 19 May 2012.
- ↑ World News – 'Better a dictator than gay,' Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko says. MSN.com (5 March 2012). Retrieved 19 May 2012.
- ↑ "Last Dictator of Europe". -. 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The comb-over Soviet-style tyrant who could soon be one of the West's favourite allies, Daily Mail (19 July 2008)
- ↑ ЛЯШКЕВИЧ, Анна. "Галина Лукашенко: Саша – необыкновенный человек". Комсомольская правда в Белоруссии (in Russian). БелаПАН. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
- ↑ Parfitt, Tom (6 April 2009). "Belarus squirms as son follows in dictator's steps". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
- ↑ Walker, Shaun (29 June 2012). "Who's that boy in the grey suit? It's Kolya Lukashenko – the next dictator of Belarus...". The Independent. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
- ↑ Haddadi, Anissa (29 June 2012). "The Belarus Boy Wonder: Nikolai Lukashenko, 7, Anointed to become President". International Business Times. IBTimes Co. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
- ↑ "Lukashenko denies reports he is grooming Nikolai as his successor". Belarusian News. BELTA. 22 October 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
- ↑ Д.Медведев объяснил, почему заменил iPad блокнотом. rbc.ru. 15 May 2013
- ↑ Александр Лукашенко разучился играть на баяне. km.ru. 15 January 2013
- ↑ Ветераны «Сборной звезд мира» проведут товарищескую игру. sports.ru. 12 December 2008.
- ↑ Лукашенко – звезда мирового хоккея. sports.ru. 20 December 2008
- ↑ Лукашенко забил шайбу. Команда Президента Беларуси играет и выигрывает в Казахстане 10:8. centrasia.ru. 22 December 2004
- ↑ Президент-хоккей Александра Лукашенко. ng.ru. 1 October 2003
- ↑ Александр Лукашенко выиграл лыжные соревнования. vsesmi.ru. 3 March 2007.
- ↑ Bandy players from Ulyanovsk are going to play in games of the Bandy World Championship in 2016
- ↑ Лауреаты Международной премии Андрея Первозванного "За Веру и Верность". 1993–2005 годы (in Russian). Фонд Святого Всехвального апостола Андрея Первозванного. 1995. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ↑ А.Г. Лукашенко награжден орденом Хосе Марти. Вечерний Минск (in Russian). 5 September 2000. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ↑ Белоруссия (in Russian). Zatulin.ru. 15 November 2000. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ↑ Олимпийский приз для Беларуси (in Russian). Пресс-центр НОКа. 12 June 2006. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ↑ "Президент России". Archive.kremlin.ru. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
- ↑ "Honorary Citizens of Yerevan" (in Russian). City of Yerevan, Armenia. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ↑ Korobov, Pavel (11 May 2005). Патриарх наградил Александра Лукашенко (in Russian). Religare.ru. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ↑ Президент Беларуси Александр Лукашенко удостоен медали "За развитие мирового фестивального движения" (in Russian). Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the Russian Federation. 18 July 2005. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ↑ Александр Лукашенко награжден орденом Белорусской Православной Церкви (in Russian). Maranatha. 26 September 2006. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ↑ В Минске прошло заседание Межгосударственного Совета ЕврАзЭС (in Russian). President of the Republic of Belarus. 23 June 2006. Archived from the original on 10 November 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ↑ "Александр Лукашенко награжден орденом Святого Владимира I степени". Патриархия.ru (in Russian). 5 June 2007. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ↑ "Presidente Chávez se reúne con su par bielorruso Lukashenko". Mre.gov.ve. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
- ↑ "Jorge Rodríguez | Alcalde de Libertador " " Alcalde Jorge Rodríguez entrega llaves de la Ciudad de Caracas al Presidente Lukashenko". Jorgerodriguez.psuv.org.ve. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
- ↑ "Ukazi o odlikovanjima" (in Serbian). predsednik.rs. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
- ↑ "Meeting with President Tomislav Nikolić of the Republic of Serbia". president.gov.by. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
- ↑ "Putin signed the decree about Lukashenko's rewarding with the Order of Alexander Nevsky". itar-tass.com. 30 August 2014
External links
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alexander Lukashenko.
|Wikiquote has quotations related to: Alexander Lukashenko
- President's official site (English) (Russian) (Belarusian) (Polish)
- BBC – Profile: Alexander Lukashenko
|Political offices
|Preceded by
Myechyslaw Hryb
as Chairperson of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus
|President of Belarus


text: Back Bullies Go High-Tech You can now add bullying to the list of things made easier by technology. Teens today live much of their lives on the Internet. Online bullying, also called cyberbullying, can involve using the Internet, cell phones, or other devices to send text or images that are intended to embarrass or hurt the other person. Cyberbullying affects almost of all American teens, according to the National Crime Prevention Council. Online bullying has been used for the following purposes: Pretending to be someone else in order to trick someone Telling untrue stories or rumors about another person Sending mean, vulgar, or threatening messages or images Posting someone's picture without his or her consent Sharing private or sensitive information about a person So the bullies bent on malice have new weapons. Their nameless nature can make the bullies bolder. The victim can be reached anytime, anywhere. A child can flee a school-yard bully just by leaving, but that won't work in cyberspace. Parents often don't know of the problem because children hesitate to report it. Awareness is the first step, and education about preventing and managing cyberbullying is key. So what's a parent to do? It may not be possible to make a child bully-proof, but here are some ideas: Remind your child: Don't open e-mail or accept instant messages from unknown senders. Block communication with the cyberbully. Delete email messages without reading them. Share your concerns about the bullying with a trusted friend, or better, a parent. Don't share your phone number, password, or e-mail address. Don't reply to any bullying or disturbing message. Take a picture of the screen of the e-mail or message and save it as evidence, especially if the message is threatening to you. It will help the authorities in their investigation. Never meet anyone in person that you have only known online. Tell an authority figure at once if a threatening message shows up. Report threatening contact right away to the service provider. Educate yourself about Internet safety and how to deal with cyberbullying at Web sites such as Stopcyberbullying.org and Wiredsafety.org A good rule of thumb to remember is that is you wouldn't say it in person, you probably shouldn't say it online. Parents need to watch for changes in a child's behavior that can signal problems like bullying and talk with their parents about their online activities. Keep the Internet a fun and safe environment for your child.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
.I just spotted Carrie/Child's Play, The Ninth Gate/See No Evil, The Silence of the Lambs/Mr. Brooks, Saw/Saw II, and Predator/Commando 20th Century Fox double feature Blu-ray packs for only $20 a pop at the Great Retail Satan. These aren't stripped down versions; just the normal existing editions shrink-wrapped back-to-back. Pretty cheap considering these where $25-$35 a piece a few months ago. I picked up Carrie and Child's Play since former looks decent yet bareboned while the latter looks great and is extra feature packed. Also for some reason Child's Play has the identical special feature-wise 20th Anniversary DVD included as well. Concerning the others, The Ninth Gate's transfer has been grain-scrubbed, The Silence of the Lambs could definitely look better, and Saw is extra-less. Also picked up the DVDs of Savini's Night of the Living Dead and a quad-feature pack of Pumpkinhead 2/Leprechaun/Wishmaster 1 & 2 for just $5 a piece....and some detergent.
Vinegar Syndrome battles BIO-ZOMBIE (review)
5 hours ago


text:
"Christopher" (season 4, episode 3)
In which everybody celebrates Columbus Day and Iron Eyes Cody is secretly Italian
Every show has to have a "worst" episode, one that sits at the bottom of a subjective, personal ranking of that show's many adventures. What's different about "Christopher," the worst, clumsiest hour The Sopranos would ever produce, is that it's not just the worst episode. It's the worst episode by SEVERAL DEGREES. The show had not been this bad before, and it would not get this bad again. (Obviously, I haven't been through the rest of the series again, so I could be eating these words by the time we get back through all of this again, but "Christopher" is almost worse than I remembered it being, which rarely happens to me. Removed from the context under which it was produced—a context where The Sopranos was frequently attacked by anti-Italian-American defamation groups—the episode just seems weird, like all of the characters in the show had written columns for the "My Turn" feature in Newsweek and were reading them to each other.
It's not like the episode is without merit. There are plenty of interesting plot developments, and there are some very good scenes, with the final scene, in particular, being a strong example of the show undercutting itself in a humorous fashion. And the storyline about Ralphie deciding to dump Rosalie so he could be with Janice is well done, particularly at the end when Janice no longer wants anything to do with him. (OK, I could have lived without having to see the two of them do their weird sex play thing again, but that's not really a demerit against the episode.) It's just that the rest of the episode is so bulky, so unlike The Sopranos, which is usually pretty lean and witty. This is a show where nobody really says what they're feeling, and that's a strength. Here's an episode where everybody says what they're feeling all of the time, and that's why it doesn't work.
Apple MacBook Air Laptop
Powerful performance
The M1 chip delivers 3.5x faster performance than the previous generation all while using way less power. Get up to 18 hours of battery life.
The basic idea is this: It's coming on Columbus Day; they're putting on parades. Silvio reads about an anti-parade protest by a group of Native Americans who want to take issue with celebration of a man whose arrival precipitated several centuries worth of struggle and genocide for their people. Silvio, taking this to be a slur against Italians, decides he doesn't like it and goes to an earlier demonstration where a Columbus effigy is going to be burned. He and some of the other guys take the effigy down, and then a scuffle breaks out (precipitated by the demonstrators, after Sil takes down their effigy). Several people are injured, and it lands both groups in hot water, with Tony visibly upset with everyone for getting involved in something so stupid, to the point where they could have gone to jail for something relatively innocuous in the grand scheme of their crimes. Meanwhile, everyone decides to make things right with the protest leader, a man named Del Redclay.
Again, not every scene here is a flop. In particular, I like the scene where Ralphie, having decided that the best way to get back at the Native Americans for insulting Christopher Columbus is to tear down an icon of equal stature to Native Americans, which means that he discovers the Italian heritage of Iron Eyes Cody and threatens to go wide with it if the protests don't scale down. The whole absurdity of this conceit is tremendously amusing, especially the way that Joe Pantoliano plays the moment like he's a great investigative journalist or something. The moment where Del seems shaken by this knowledge and can't believe it's true is, admittedly, a step too far into the farce, but the whole scene plays out like a weird, comic inversion of the show's usual mob intimidation scenes, a giant poster of Cody standing in for the sorts of threats the mobsters might usually use.
And I think what the episode is trying to go for is vaguely well-expressed (except when the show just comes out and says it). The show rarely allows Tony to be unequivocally right, but it seems to agree with him here that it's fine to be proud of your heritage, but what really matters is who YOU are. The final scene in the car, with Tony returning again to the question of whatever happened to Gary Cooper, takes this tack as its centerpiece. The scene argues that getting too tied up into an identity that extends to a group beyond yourself can be a dangerous thing, a sort of drug that stands in the way of you being in control of your own actions and your own life. Once everything can be seen as a slight, then all you're doing is looking for slights. Because this is a world of several billion people, slights will come, but it's usually better to not get too invested in feeling bad about them. Feel proud of who you are, of what you've done, and the rest will take care of itself. It's not a bad life philosophy, particularly coming from Tony, who can be kind of an oaf about these things, and it stands in marked counterpoint to an entire episode made up of people complaining about who's had it hardest. (I also like that Sil completely forgets it's Columbus Day when they go to the casino, which shows just how serious he really is about this thing.)
But the problem is that everything on the way to that scene is so tortured and awkward, as though David Chase and episode writer Michael Imperioli (from a story idea by Imperioli and Maria Laurino) had that final scene in mind and then weren't quite sure how to get there. The episode, outside of the Ralphie and Janice storyline (and another that we'll get to), takes the structure of various people airing their grievances on behalf of the groups they represent. Even a mostly disconnected scene of Carmela and her friends—including Bobby's wife, Karen, now enjoying a loftier status in the life of the mob wives, just as her husband enjoys a loftier status at work—attending a speech recommended by Father Phil mostly just turns into a woman lecturing the group about how Italian-Americans have so much to be proud of and how they should remind the world that they're about far more than the usual stereotypes, instead embracing things like broccoli rabe and the many millions of Italian-Americans who don't participate in organized crime. (I do love the way Rosalie silently tells off the woman who turns to look at her accusatorily during this section of the speech.)
Hell, even Montel Williams gets in on the act on TV. I certainly know that we have these conversations in America, and I'm sure that Chase and Imperioli are tweaking the idea of Italian-Americans who think their lives have been rough based on the fact that, at least in America, they kind of don't have a contest when comparing their suffering to African-Americans or Native Americans. (Hell, we even get a scene where Hesh not so subtly reminds us that Jewish people have plenty to complain about if we're talking on a global scale.) And the scene where Furio complains about tensions between northern and southern Italy is even a nice little reminder about how this problem is not specific to this country and is more of a generalized human thing, where we tend to mistreat people from other groups. But I don't know that the episode had to be so talky about this central idea. It's a needlessly bulky episode, where people don't just have exchanges of dialogue but, instead, tend to make gigantic speeches. Granted, a lot of these speeches come from characters the regulars are listening to, but that doesn't make things any better. There's a place for discussion of the awful ways Native Americans were treated after Columbus arrived in North America; I'm not sure that an episode of The Sopranos is that place.
The show, of course, was battling perceptions of it as a series that glorified Italian-American involvement in the mob or created a perception that all Italian-Americans were in the mob. As any show becomes more popular, it will inevitably attract some form of controversy, and that was the controversy for this show. "Christopher" was widely seen as a response to that controversy, a suggestion that those who were worried about these sorts of things were taking them too seriously and should just lighten up already. Was it? I have no idea, but the timing certainly makes a compelling case for that argument. The problem is that the episode felt clunky at the time and now just feels weird, divorced from the arguments of that earlier period. When's the last time you heard someone complain about how The Sopranos suggests all Italian-Americans are in the mob anyway? It's an odd storyline, told oddly, particularly since it has little to no bearing on much that comes later.
Other storylines, however, are much better. I've already mentioned the story of Ralphie's pathetic attempts to improve his love life by ditching Rosalie for Janice (who appears to enjoy treating him like a prostitute). It's one of the few times in the series so far where it's possible to feel something like sympathy for Ralphie, whose inability to stop climbing the ladder at work has a tendency to infect the rest of his life. Does he really care for Janice or Rosalie? It's kind of impossible to tell (though the fact that he constantly cheats on Rosalie and seems to mostly think of Janice as a passing thing is a good indication that he doesn't have much feeling for them either way), but it's hard to watch him try to make Janice his girl when she's just seen how devoted Bobby was to his wife and realizes that there's a different way of having a relationship. So she pushes him down the stairs, and he swears his revenge.
There are a bunch of other small plots—like, say, Paulie telling Johnny Sack about the crack Ralphie made about his wife or Ralphie deciding to buy a racehorse or Junior's trial beginning—that seem promising as things that will have a bearing on what comes later, particularly in regards to Paulie's attempts to drive a wedge between New York and New Jersey for whatever reason. (It's a bit hard to read Paulie's long game at this point, particularly when he only appears in a few minutes of every episode. Tony Sirico was suffering after back surgery and needed the reduced workload.) But they're all shoved into the midst of the much less competent A-story, and that makes them seem less organic than they might and more like the show saying, "See these? These plot points will be important later on."
The one other story that seems to be the exception to this is the death of Karen. For a character we just met two episodes ago, who only appeared in these two episodes, her death is surprisingly heartfelt. Bobby, who's never taken a comare, weeps openly at her casket in a display of outsized emotion rarely seen among the men of Sopranos-land. And the scene where he's stuck in a traffic jam and complains to his son about the task his wife calls in to him (through his kid) is rather predictable—as you just know that the accident holding everything back is going to involve Karen, the very person he's complaining about—but still packs a punch. Up until now, Bobby's been hapless comic relief. In this episode, the show goes out of its way to show that he's got some depth to him, just like everybody else on Tony's crew. The storyline is raw and deeply felt and real, which stands in marked contrast to most everything else that goes on in the episode. It's rare for The Sopranos to lose sight of the sorts of things that made it so good in the first place, but "Christopher" does early and often. It's the nadir of the series, and it's amazing a show this good could produce an episode this poor.
Stray observations:
- Maureen Van Zandt very much looks the part of the kind of woman who would be Silvio's wife (probably because, well, she's Steve Van Zandt's wife), but her acting leaves quite a bit to be desired, particularly when she's asked to emote at all, as she is in this episode.
- Check out the vintage early 2000s jams at the gym, including U2's "Elevation" and Jennifer Lopez's "Waiting For Tonight." (Oh, oh.)
- Wikipedia lists Pie-O-My as "the horse Tony befriends," a description that's always amused me.
- Despite the episode's title and despite Imperioli's script, Christopher doesn't really have much to do in this episode. He gets some choice lines in the final scene, but that's about it. Imperioli has a reputation for writing Chris-heavy episodes, and I'm not entirely sure he deserves it, based on the three he's written so far (though, granted, the other two featured prominent Chris storylines).
- A nice return to the season's central theme when Tony complains that somebody out there has loose lips, and it's costing him money. Never mind that the real problem is someone cracking jokes about another guy's wife. It always comes back down to who's costing Tony the most and who's making Tony the most.
- Am I right? Does Melfi not appear in this episode? I don't see her in any plot summaries or in my notes. She was always the show's example of how not ALL of its Italians were mobsters. (Oh, right. She's in that late scene where she sees what happened on TV. Well, that's not much of a scene at all!)
- When Redclay's assistant says they've researched and found that Iron Eyes Cody was Native American, she's either lying or misinformed (probably the latter). Cody's parents were Sicilian.
- "Mussolini was Hitler's bitch!"
- "He was gay, Gary Cooper?"
- "You take it up with Frankie Valli when you talk to him."
Speaking With The Fishes:
- Janice's sudden realization of what a good husband Bobby was leads to her eventual marriage to him (and child with him), though I don't entirely remember the timeline of these events, outside of Bobby's eventual death in the next to last episode.
- All of the seemingly minor plot points of this episode—Pie-O-My, Junior's trial, the Johnny Sack anger—will pay off as this season goes along more. So will Carmela's increasing interest in Furio. Similarly, that random mention of Frankie Valli seems prescient (though it's not) when Valli plays a recurring character in seasons five and six.
- This is something I actually don't remember: Does Ralphie's limp manifest itself in future episodes?
Next week: Tensions rise between New York and New Jersey in "The Weight."


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Nintendo has officially announced an upgrade to the DS portable gaming console. It is called the DSi, maintaining the trademark double-screen (DS). The new unit features a larger 3.5″ display, while becoming 12% thinner than the previous DS model. The DSi does not include a GBA cartridge port, which means the console can no longer play GameBoy and GameBoy Advance games. Otherwise, the DSi is extremely feature-packed, including cameras, paint software, advanced web browser, music playback, SD slot, internal storage, and more.
The DSi will launch on November 1st (Japan) with a cost of ¥189,000 (about $178 USD), which is in-line with the current DS model. Dates for International releases have not yet been announced.


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By Ezra Stead
Manhattan, USA, 1979
Directed by Woody Allen
In the interest of returning this site to our original mission statement of "Movies I Didn't Get," I am now going to take on a film that is generally considered to be something of a sacred cow. I have had a long and tumultuous relationship with the films of Woody Allen, partly because, even more than the average artist, his personal life is so very intertwined with his work. Even when not playing the lead character himself, as he so frequently does, Woody's protagonists are generally thinly veiled (or not at all veiled, as he says in the underrated 1997 film Deconstructing Harry) versions of himself, and the stories he tells are often segments of his own life story. At his best (Annie Hall, Stardust Memories, Hannah and Her Sisters), he produces smart, funny, insightful work that truly captures the human condition in a universal way. At his worst (Celebrity, the dreadfully overrated Midnight in Paris), his work can be insufferably self-absorbed and pretentious. Though the critical establishment would appear to strongly disagree with me on this, I find Woody's 1979 "masterpiece" Manhattan to be mostly in this latter camp. Read More


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Sean Kingston has been sued by a woman who accuses the "Beautiful Girls" singer of gang raping her in 2010, TMZ reports.
Carissa Capeloto, now 22, claims in the lawsuit that Kingston, his bodyguard and a member of Kingston's band forced themselves on her at a Seattle hotel in July 2010. Before the alleged rape, Capeloto says she smoked pot and drank seven to 10 shots of vodka.
See Robin Williams, Michael J. Fox and more familiar faces returning to fall TV
Capeloto says she was invited to Kingston's room for a meet-and-greet following aJustin Bieber concert that the singer had also performed at. But when she arrived at the hotel room, Kingston was allegedly waiting naked on the bed. According to the lawsuit, Kingston's bodyguard allegedly picked up Capeloto and placed her on top of Kingston. The three men then gang raped her while she was "obviously incapable of consent," the lawsuit says.
Capeloto's friend later entered the hotel room and retrieved her. They proceeded to call the police and took Capeloto to the hospital, where she says she was treated for injuries consistent with rape, according to the report.
NCIS, Glee and more of this fall's biggest cast shakeups
Criminal charges against Kingston and the other two men were dropped in 2010 because police found Capeloto wasn't credible enough, TMZ says.
Capeloto says in the lawsuit that the incident ruined her life and that she can barely sleep, has mood swings and panic attacks. She has sued all three men and is seeking a minimum of $5 million in damages. The trail is set for November.
Kingston responded with legal documents of his own, insisting the sex was consensual, according to TMZ. Reps for the singer did not immediately respond to TVGuide.com's request for comment.
View original Report: Sean Kingston Sued for Gang Rape at TVGuide.com
Other Links From TVGuide.com


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October 14th, 2010
The story behind the Chilean miners' Jesus T-Shirts
As miners were being pulled from Chile's San Jose mine Wednesday, most were wearing tan T-shirts over their coveralls. The Chilean government told reporters the green coveralls were designed to help absorb the sweat as they ascended to the top.
But Wes Little, a CNN editor/producer in Atlanta, wondered why the miners were wearing the T-shirt over their coveralls. He noticed a logo on the T-shirt's left sleeve for the Jesus Film Project.
Here's what we found:
The Jesus Film Project is a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ International, the massive Orlando, Florida-based evangelical ministry.
The Jesus Film Project tells us they have translated the film into 1,105 languages and that it has been seen in every country. You can watch or listen to over a 1,000 of the translations here.
The main goal of TJFP's ministry is to create and distribute effective media in every language, says Berry Fiess, the group's director of field information services.
Seventeen days into the mine accident, CCCI country director for Chile, Christian Maureira, started contacting public officials to see if they could send the miners a copy of the film. Fiess said Maureira was able to reach a daughter and a brother of miner Jose Henriquez.
Through that family contact, the group was able to send an MP3 audio version of the Jesus film and an MP3 audio version of the New Testament in Spanish to Henriquez down in the mine.
The Jesus film explains that the New Testament tells how Jesus is laid in a tomb-like cave after his crucifixion. Three days later, Jesus is said to have risen from the dead. In the Jesus film, women come to the tomb and find the stone that blocked the entrance has been rolled away, the cave empty.
It is unclear if the miners saw the resurrection story as a parallel for their hoped-for rescue, but Jose Henriquez passed along a letter to CCCI's Maureira from inside the mine. Fiess shared the English translation with CNN:
"At the end of the letter," Fiess said, "(Henriquez) said goodbye with Psalm 95:4, which says, 'In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him.'"
A few days later, Henriquez asked Maureira to get them special T-shirts.
"The T-shirts were a gift from Campus Crusade for Christ Chile," Fiess said. "In the front you can read, 'Gracias Senor' - 'Thank you Lord.'"
And on the back, Psalm 95:4.
"Apparently, all the miners liked them," Fiess said. "It kind of solidified them."
soundoff (580 Responses)
About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.


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I'm not gonna lie to you: I'm a little uneasy about tonight's puppy.
Not because of the setting. No offense, Missouri fans. I'm sure the joint will be jumping. I get the historical significance of the game, too. But this isn't Georgia's first dance. Richt's done a better than decent job shepherding his team through hostile environments over the years. I don't expect the Dawgs to lose their composure.
Believe it or not, it's not because of the suspensions. (Although you wouldn't have heard me complain if Ogletree had suited up tonight.) Georgia has sufficient talent to win tonight, even with the missing. If you doubt that, just look at this recruiting comparison between the two schools. Sure, it's closer than it should be, with four starters out, but the Dawgs are still more than functional on defense.
No, it's about an old, familiar bugaboo. Richt's proven this week that he hasn't lost control of the media and he hasn't lost control of player discipline.
It remains to be seen if he's regained control of the team's focus.
Your guess on that is as good as mine. All I know is that I've seen this team play with heart and direction against good teams for a half or three quarters, only to let things go late, more than enough to say it can't happen tonight. And I've also seen this team fart around with programs far worse than Missouri. So while I can say if these Dawgs play as well as they should for an entire game, they'll be hard to beat, I can't say with absolute certainty that's what we'll get.
Okay, enough with the gloom and doom part of the post. Here's what I like going into the game:
- Grantham's calm. His guys didn't always show their best against Buffalo, but far from being perturbed by that, Grantham came off as a man in control of things last week. We may have been caught up in the swirl of uncertainty about which suspended players were due to show up tonight, but don't forget that Grantham's known all along about their status. He's formulated his game plan accordingly. The weather looks to be much more cooperative than last week's, which can only help. Even Mitchell's injury, which was the one blip unaccounted for earlier, is in the rear view mirror. We'll find out tonight how good a judge of talent Grantham's been with these last two recruiting classes.
- Bobo's gameplan. I've watched the Buffalo game three times now. I come away more impressed each time with what the offense did. It's not so much that Bobo didn't show his cards; it's that he showed the cards he wanted to. Does Georgia have a running threat after Crowell's departure? Is the offensive line functional? I'm not going to tell you either problem is solved. But I'm not going to tell you that Missouri can take either issue for granted – and nobody knew for sure ten days ago whether that would be the case. Add to that the number of shots taken deep, all of which serve to put Missouri's safeties on notice that there will be a price to pay if they decide to crowd the box for run support, and you've got a coach who knows he needs to be able to run the ball and how he needs to run the ball to keep the defense honest. As vanilla as he kept things, Bobo still gave Missouri plenty to think about this week.
- Missouri's expectations. They're saying all the right things about Georgia's defense, the Tigers are. "Their defensive line is really tough," Moe said. "They've got some good players on that defense." But as respectful as that sounds, it lacks a certain context. Comparing Grantham's scheme to Texas A&M's, Jarvis Jones to Von Miller and John Jenkins to Baylor's Phil Taylor is nice, but the Georgia defense, even with the suspensions, is no TAMU or Baylor. That doesn't mean Missouri can't adjust, but I'm not buying that there won't be a transition. My hope is that it's a long one, or at least a long enough one.
So what do I see coming? Both teams want to be able to establish the run, but I suspect early on both are going to throw the ball more than we expect (damned suspensions). Both offensive lines have question marks, so it's going to be worth watching to see which defensive front is better able to control the line of scrimmage. That's one big key.
Another is – duh – quarterback play. Murray lacked touch on the deep ball early against Buffalo, but gained his touch as the game went on. The big thing was that he didn't turn the ball over. If he can do that tonight, that will be a big deal for Georgia. It's time for him to step it up and put the team on his shoulders in a big SEC game. As for Franklin, he can be very, very good, but he also can slip into a funk. In some ways, what Missouri wants to do on offense is much like what Georgia Tech tries to do with the triple option. And while stopping the dive play is irrelevant against the Tigers' spread, pounding the hell out of the quarterback when he has his hands on the ball is just as important. The Georgia defense needs to make Franklin pay early and often. If he gets into a groove, it's going to be a tough, tough game to pull out.
Focus for Georgia will show up with competent special teams play, not losing the turnover margin battle and staying away from a lot of penalties. The Dawgs succeeded mostly with all three against Buffalo (one long punt return came as a result of the coverage not staying in its lanes and losing contain). If we see all that tonight, I like Georgia's chances. Barring a big turnover margin number, I think this will be a close game. With the personnel issues, the game screams for Richt to control the pace on offense to keep his defense off the field as much as possible, while I expect Missouri to have some success in the passing game, as the receivers and Franklin are too good to expect otherwise.
So watch the line play and watch Georgia's focus.


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Many of us are familiar with vaccines. In the US where I live most of us have been vaccinated for major diseases such as whooping cough, Hepatitis A, measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus, diphtheria, the list goes on. However, due to our developed infrastructure and relative ease of access to medical care many of us have never worried about obtaining vaccines for our children or ourselves. This alone has contributed to some of the most startling gains in public health that we've ever seen.
In other parts of the world though, this is a very different story. Less infrastructure and fewer opportunities for medical care has made vaccinating large segments of the human population extremely difficult with serious consequences for those who are not vaccinated.
One major hurdle in the race to vaccinate the majority of people on this planets is the maintenance of cold-chains for vaccine delivery.
Continue reading The importance of cold chains: Getting potent vaccine to those in need


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Make the world a more eco-friendly place with today's gift idea -Greenzys
! Meet Peat the Penguin, an fan of recycling, reusing and reducing waste; Yew Yew the Panda, who grows bamboo to prevent erosion and create oxygen; Willow the Elephant, who collects rainwater for her plants and uses her trunk as a water hose; and Violet the Giraffe, the ecological genius who teaches the Greenzys how to reduce their carbon paw print in an effort to protect the environment. Even the plush toys and the books are made from environmentally friendly materials.
For every toy purchased, a tree is planted by the Arbor Day Foundation (you can get a certificate in honor of your tree at greenzys.com) and they benefit the Environmental Media Association. The Greenzys are cute, fun and even save the world. Wouldn't it be great if all gifts gave back so much?
Do you have a "green" friend you'll give a Greenzy book or plush toy to for the holidays? Are you going to get one for yourself? Tell us in the comments section below!


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This article is more than 1 year old
Online casinos hit by bot armies
Don't bet against money laundering robots
Botnets are fulfilling law enforcement fears that online casinos could prove fertile ground for money laundering, according to a recent, little-noticed report by risk compliance firm Fortent.
Some are engaging in variations of an old casino scam, in which preprogrammed-to-lose bots transfer dirty money - obtained through stolen credit cards, illicit drug sales or whatnot - to a chosen winner. Others flood a room and conspire to defraud a legitimate player by leveraging the mathematical advantage inherent in knowing more of the cards. Another scam involves spamming a known player in the hopes of stealing password and account information, and then bleeding the account dry through the fraudulent games described above.
Fulltiltpoker.com apparently got hit by a botnet attack recently and refunded money to the defrauded customers. A USA Today tally last month estimated that $2.5 mil to $3.5 mil per year are laundered this way.
"We are definitely seeing activity by bot-herders in online casino games, which is something we hadn't seen before," Symantec security analyst Zulfikar Ramzan noted.
We've generally been skeptical of allegations that the online casino industry would make a good platform for widespread money laundering, primarily due to the ready-made trail left by the transactions. However, the use of botnets is more problematic, due to the fact that until recently botmasters had not been targeted by the FBI, and the actual computers involved belong to innocent third parties.
Money laundering can theoretically be accomplished through many types of transactions - for example, by selling phony merchandise on eBay and transferring the money without delivering anything at all. It's therefore questionable just how much more susceptible cybercasinos are than other online businesses to money laundering. Risk compliance companies like Fortent or AccuitySolutions have products to push, after all. However, the fact that the US authorities have driven much of the online gambling and payment processing activity underground raises serious concerns about just how secure some of these sites are.
Not that gamblers are a risk-averse group, of course.®
Burke Hansen, attorney at large, heads a San Francisco law office


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Buccaneer Energy Limited has identified a new gas zone at the Cosmopolitan well drilled by the jack-up rig Endeavour-Spirit of Independence off Stariski Creek and north of Anchor Point in lower Cook Inlet. The well tested 16 million cubic feet daily of natural gas.
In an update released this week, Buccaneer said an absolute open flow potential four-point test on a second gas zone resulted in 16 million cubic-feet per day. The zone has 60 feet of perforations in the 4,300-foot measured depth sand and produced gas at a maximum tested rate of 7.3 million cubic-feet per day. The first gas zone tested was at 5,500 feet and yielded a maximum rate of 7.2 million cubic-feet per day with an absolute open flow potential of 9.4 million cubic-feet per day.
"The Cosmo No. 1 test results are seen by the company to be extremely positive," Buccaneer said in a press release.
Buccaneer is considering several development options using those zones that could initially produce a combined gas rate of 8 to 10 million cubic-feet per day. Only the two gas zones in the Tyonek Formation have been tested, but there are additional shallow gas zones within the formation that might be tested in future well appraisals, the press release said.
Buccaneer will get a third-party reserve estimate and finalize its field development plans and cost estimates. The Cosmo well will be suspended as a future productive well. Once this work is done, the Endeavour jack-up rig will be moved north to the Southern Cross Unit.