Belarus

In the most thrilling heavyweight championship fight in years, Sergei Liakhovich of Belarus won the World Boxing Organization title Saturday night in Cleveland, scoring a unanimous 12-round decision over Lamon Brewster, the hard-punching Indianapolis native who had been WBO champion since April 2004. Both fighters dominated at points, and both twice got in serious trouble. Liakhovich (23-1) worked behind a long left jab and wide rights to the body to win the early and late rounds, and he nearly finished Brewster with flurries that began with staggering shots in the sixth and ninth rounds.

The United States remained unbeaten in the World Hockey Championship yesterday by edging Belarus, 1-0, in St. Petersburg, Russia. A team that boasts 13 NHL players needed Chris Luongo, a defenseman for the Munich Barons in the German League, to score at 6 minutes, 17 seconds of the second period to improve to 3-0-1. In other action, Canada routed two-time silver medalist Finland, 5-1; Latvia dealt Russia its third consecutive loss, 3-2; and Olympic and world champion Czech Republic dominated Italy, 9-2. Nashville Predators goalie Mike Dunham hurt his hand but suffered no broken bones Wednesday night when a box carrying a computer screen fell on it as he moved into a new home.

In the summer of 1994, in a forest in Belarus, about 100 performers staged a theatrical piece that depicted life in the tiny town of Ivye before the massacre of almost all of its Jewish population in 1942. On Sunday, Tamar Rogoff, a New York City-based performance artist and the force behind The Ivye Project, will tell the story of the extraordinary piece at Beth David Reform Congregation in Gladwyne. This time, the audience will not be strolling through a forest as it watches the collection of readings, dance and tableaux unfold.

Seven-year-old Alyosha Popovich has been at Pediatric Hospital No. 4 for three months, awaiting possible heart surgery. He cannot leave his bed, so it was hard for him to follow the commotion yesterday in the reception room next door. Then a nice lady came by and helped him read his book. And the commotion came into his room, along with the wife of the President of the United States. "Dragonfly," said Hillary Rodham Clinton as she pointed to a picture. Little Alyosha smiled without waiting for the translation.

Bob Genarrelli remembers Hakeem Olajuwon unfolding from a taxi cab in Houston in 1981 and being directed to the basketball office of coach Guy Lewis to inquire about playing for the Cougars. Olajuwon had no formal invitation, the visit prompted strictly by a friend of Lewis, who recommended the coach take a look at the 7-foot, 190-pound Nigerian who wanted to play basketball in America, preferably in a warm climate. To say that Olajuwon arrived in America without fanfare would be an understatement.

Former Ukraine premier arrested KIEV, Ukraine - Acting on a judge's orders, police arrested former Ukraine Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko during her abuse-of-office trial Friday for violations of court procedures. The United States and the European Union have condemned court cases against Tymoshenko and several of her top allies as selective prosecution of political opponents. Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine's Kremlin-friendly president, has been accused by opposition activists and rights groups of trying to sideline his political opponents and muzzle critical media in a rollback on freedoms championed by his pro-Western predecessor.

MINSK, Belarus - Three suspects have confessed to being involved in the Minsk subway bombing, police said Wednesday, and authorities rounded up dissidents across Belarus after the president declared that they might know who "ordered the attack. " The head of the KGB, Belarus' security service, said a man in his mid-20s confessed to carrying out Monday's bombing, which killed 12 people and injured more than 200 at the main subway station in the capital. KGB chief Vadim Zaitsev did not identify the man and would not discuss his motives.

MOSCOW - Ex-Soviet governments are failing to protect their people from the deadly legacy of Chernobyl, former cleanup workers and environmental groups contended Monday on the eve of ceremonies marking the 25th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear accident. Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus have cut benefits packages for sickened cleanup workers in recent years, and many workers complained directly to Russian President Dmitry A. Medvedev as he gave them awards for their work at a ceremony in Moscow.

Skiing through a heavy snowfall described as pure "chaos," Austria's Mario Reiter took the lead in the men's combined event Tuesday as Alpine racing finally began two days late at the Olympics. The snow and an icy course made it tough for skiers to turn sharply around the 55 gates on each run of the combined slalom, and plumes of snow trailed the competitors. "It was chaos," said the world's top skier, Hermann Maier of Austria, who was eighth after the two slalom runs. "It was too difficult.

Prove it. That's what the U.S. men's gymnastics team is trying to do. Prove it. Ever since a miraculous team gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, the men's gymnastics team has been on a downward spiral. At the 1992 Olympics, the team finished sixth and only two U.S. men, John Roethlisberger and Chris Waller, qualified for the all-around final, where the top 36 men advance after the team competition. Roethlisberger finished 34th, Waller 35th. At last year's world championships, the men finished ninth and were nervous about finishing in the top 12, which had to be done to make it to the Olympics.

MOSCOW - A rash of teenage suicides in Russia has set off alarm bells and experts are urging the government to take immediate action. Russia has the world's third-highest rate of suicide among the 15-to-19 age group, with about 1,500 taking their own lives every year, according to a recent UNICEF report. The rate is higher only in the neighboring former Soviet republics of Belarus and Kazakhstan. In recent years, there have been 19 to 20 annual suicides per 100,000 teenagers in Russia - three times the world average, Boris Polozhy of the respected Serbsky psychiatric center in Moscow said Friday.

Former Ukraine premier arrested KIEV, Ukraine - Acting on a judge's orders, police arrested former Ukraine Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko during her abuse-of-office trial Friday for violations of court procedures. The United States and the European Union have condemned court cases against Tymoshenko and several of her top allies as selective prosecution of political opponents. Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine's Kremlin-friendly president, has been accused by opposition activists and rights groups of trying to sideline his political opponents and muzzle critical media in a rollback on freedoms championed by his pro-Western predecessor.

Olympic champion Canada defeated Belarus, 4-1, yesterday behind Jordan Eberle's two goals in an opening game at hockey's world championship in Kosice, Slovakia. Germany sprung an upset on the first day of the 16-team tournament by beating Russia for the first time ever, 2-0. The United States opens play today against Austria. Eberle put Canada ahead with a backhand 1:52 into the opening period, and Andrei Stepanov tied it with 34 seconds left in the period after a defensive blunder by Luke Schenn.

MOSCOW - Ex-Soviet governments are failing to protect their people from the deadly legacy of Chernobyl, former cleanup workers and environmental groups contended Monday on the eve of ceremonies marking the 25th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear accident. Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus have cut benefits packages for sickened cleanup workers in recent years, and many workers complained directly to Russian President Dmitry A. Medvedev as he gave them awards for their work at a ceremony in Moscow.

MINSK, Belarus - Belarusian authorities have reprimanded two leading independent newspapers for their coverage of a subway bombing that killed 13, officials said Friday, raising fears the government could use the attack to muzzle a few remaining independent media outlets. The Ministry of Information said it had issued a formal warning to the Nasha Niva and Narodnaya Volya dailies that their reports on Monday's bombing at Minsk's busiest subway station had hurt public interests and discredited authorities.

MINSK, Belarus - Three suspects have confessed to being involved in the Minsk subway bombing, police said Wednesday, and authorities rounded up dissidents across Belarus after the president declared that they might know who "ordered the attack. " The head of the KGB, Belarus' security service, said a man in his mid-20s confessed to carrying out Monday's bombing, which killed 12 people and injured more than 200 at the main subway station in the capital. KGB chief Vadim Zaitsev did not identify the man and would not discuss his motives.

MOSCOW - A powerful blast rocked the Minsk metro during evening rush hour Monday, killing 11 passengers and injuring 126 in a busy downtown subway station. Belarus law enforcement agencies described the explosion, on a platform at the Oktyabrskaya station as a train arrived, as an act of terrorism. The blast shattered windows, maiming people inside the train and on the platform of the station, near the presidential headquarters in the center of the Belarus capital. "I just entered the station to travel to pick up our daughter from my mother-in-law's when I felt a growing smell of burning and saw many people rushing out, some of them screaming," said Ivan Kaplun, an engineer who lives close to the station.

The NHL reportedly signed off on Ilya Kovalchuk 's latest contract with the New Jersey Devils. Five weeks after rejecting the Russian's landmark 17-year, $102 million contract with the Devils, the league approved a revised 15-year, $100 million deal on Friday after reaching an agreement with the NHL Players Association on an amendment covering long-term contracts. Kovalchuk's agent Jay Grossman confirmed the agreement in an e-mail to the Associated Press. The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed forward Mike Comrie to a $500,000, one-year contract.

The Ellen DeGeneres Show (3 p.m., NBC10) - Actress Hilary Duff; Alan Jackson performs; American Idol castoff Andrew Garcia. The Oprah Winfrey Show (4 p.m., 6ABC) - Actress Julia Roberts discusses her new movie, Eat Pray Love , her marriage, and being a mom. Entertainment Tonight (7 p.m., CBS3) - Actor Colin Farrell ( Fright Night ); Emmy nominees. Who Do You Think You Are? (8 p.m., NBC10) - Emmy-winning Friends actress Lisa Kudrow travels from Los Angeles to Belarus to uncover her family history, which includes a great-grandmother who died during the Holocaust.