(L-R) Nursultan Nazarbayev, Dmitry Medvedev and Aleksandr Lukashenko Three former Soviet republics have launched a new regional integration project, with at least two others on track to join in. Critics accuse Moscow of rebuilding the USSR, but architects of project say the aim is to become a better version of the EU. The idea of the Eurasian Union – initially between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan... 

In addition to the so-called “Qatari island”, the new Belarus’ friends from the East would be given Kastrychnitskae and Petrykauskae potassium salts deposit, an iron ore deposit, land and much more. Charter97.org website has got at its disposal a protocol of Lukashenka’s instructions following his visit to Qatar on August 15-16. The document is intended for the “Official Use Only”. Thus,... 

S-400 air defense system Russia will deploy advanced S-400 air defense systems during joint military exercises with Belarus in September, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry said. The Union Shield 2011 drills will be held in central and southern Russia on September 16-22. The exercises are aimed at improving combat readiness of the Belarus-Russian regional joint force, as well as raising interoperability... 

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says he supports calls for Russia to merge with its western neighbor Belarus. Belarus has been an independent state since the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991. Speaking at a Kremlin youth camp, Putin said Monday the return to Soviet-style unity is “possible, desirable and wholly dependent on the will of the Belarusian people.” Russia and Belarus already have... 

Belarusian policemen in plainclothes detain a man in Minsk. Police in Belarus on Wednesday beat up and arrested dozens of anti-government protesters during a banned rally in the capital of the authoritarian former Soviet nation calling for the ouster of President Alexander Lukashenko. Dozens of plainclothes police reportedly rounded up the protesters during the rally, kicking and punching them before... 

Inter RAO halted electricity supplies to Belarus as huge debt remains unpaid. Russia’s electricity export monopoly Inter RAO halted its supplies to Belarus at midnight as a huge debt remains unpaid. An agreement between Inter RAO UES and Belenergo stipulates the delivery of 3 billion kilowatt/hours of electricity to Belarus this year, with about 775 million kilowatt/hours having already been... 

Activists in Minsk protest against rise of fuel prices. As Minsk struggles to deal with the ongoing economic turmoil, rapid inflation is brewing unrest. The government had to lower fuel prices two days after a sharp increase, due to mass protests. ­On Thursday, Belarusian gas prices have dropped by almost a quarter, after President Lukashenko’s ordered the government to lower the cost. The prices... 

Kremlin's human rights council, Mikhail Fedotov (photo), said the report was "propaganda material". Russia, Ukraine and Belarus are the three European countries with the worst record on human rights in 2010, the U.S. State Department said in an annual survey released Friday. The survey, “2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices,” covered 194 countries worldwide, excluding... 

People gather around the scene where a blast occured in Minsk, capital of Belarus, April 11, 2011. Twelve people were killed and 126 were wounded in a blast that struck a metro station in the Belarussian capital Minsk. The authorities said the blast is suspected to be a terrorist act. “126 victims were hospitalized, 22 of them – in serious condition, 30 – are moderately wounded,”... 

Fears are growing that the authorities may try to take the young son of Andrei Sannikov, one of the country's leading opposition leaders, into care. Belarus will be issued an ultimatum on Wednesday by the EU to immediately release political prisoners or face unprecedented sanctions. Sergei Martynov, Belarus’s foreign minister, will be told that the EU expects “the immediate release... 

Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko has left no doubt about who is in control in his country. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko left little doubt about who was in control of his country following last week’s elections. The European Union had hoped for more democracy. But it would appear that many in Belarus are happy with the status quo. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was one of... 

Alexander Lukashenko has ruled the country since 1994 and has been dubbed “Europe’s last dictator”. A Belarusian human rights organization says seven of the candidates who ran against the country’s authoritarian leader face charges that could lead to 15 years in prison in the wake of post-election violence and massive arrests. Ales Belyatsky of the human rights center Vesna said the charges... 

Policemen arrest an activist from the Belarus youth organization Mlady Front (Young Front). Security forces in Belarus have detained over 600 people, including seven opposition candidates, after smashing a mass rally protesting fraud in the landslide re-election of president Alexander Lukashenko. Western governments have been quick to condemn the vote and the crackdown, with the United States saying... 

Belarusians cast their vote in Minsk on Sunday. The race will determine the political fate of Alexander Lukashenka. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, once called “the last dictator in Europe” by a U.S. official, easily won re-election in voting Sunday, according to exit polls reported by several media outlets. Meanwhile, opposition candidates were protesting in the capital city... 

Officials quoted in Iran’s Fars News Agency say that the Iranian government has obtained four batteries of S-300 air defense missiles, the backbone of Russia’s air defense, despite Russia’s refusal to deliver them. Russia had signed a promise to sell the missiles to Iran in 2007, but delayed the delivery for years before declaring in June that the S-300 sale was banned under the most recent...