The work was first performed in Germany in two thousand to mark two hundred fifty years since the death of the composer Johann Sebastian Bach.

VOA: special.2010.07.19

But his lawyer Anna Stavitskaya tells VOA that her client had little choice but to sign the document, since fighting for his freedom in court did not work.

VOA: standard.2010.07.09

With the impasse unlikely to be resolved before the end of this month, when U.S.troops will drop to their lowest levels in Iraq since the war began in 2003, the U.N.Security Council pressed the legislators to work through their differences in "the national interest" and form "as quickly as possible, a government that is inclusive and represents the will of the Iraqi people."

VOA: standard.2010.08.04