* A Russian-Venezuelan bank being set up by the two
countries will have charter capital of $4 billion, with a
controlling stake to be held by Russia, a deputy Russian
finance minister, Dmitry Pankin, said
* Russia's GDP contracted by 11% in May 2009, and by 10.2%
in the first five months of the year, Deputy Economics Minister
Andrei Klepach said
* The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE) said Belarus must pass laws to abolish capital
punishment before the county can be admitted to assembly
sessions
* Ukraine's parliament set January 17, 2010, as the date
for the country's presidential elections
* Ukraine started a planned rotation of its peacekeeping
contingent in Liberia, the Defense Ministry said
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