Eurasia

At the end of 2008 Macedonians owed around 1.0 billion euros to banks in mortgage, business and other household loans, an equivalent of 500 euros for each of the country’s two million people, local media say. This marks a significant increase from last year’s average indebtedness of an estimated 337 …

The import of Russian natural gas resumed Wednesday morning, after it was halted for two weeks, Romania’s state-owned pipeline operator Transgaz said. Russia’s Gazprom cut off natural gas supplies on January 7 due to economic disagreements with Ukraine. Ukraine is the main transit route for Russian gas pipelines to the …

Bulgaria’s Minister of Energy and Economy Petar Dimitrov said on Wednesday that the austerity measures in natural gas consumption would be lifted after Russia and the Ukraine resolved their gas pricing dispute. . “We have gas, the crisis is over”, the Minister declared explaining all technical conditions to do away …

MIDYAT, Turkey (Reuters) – In a remote village near the Turkish-Syrian border, a land dispute with neighboring villages is threatening the future of one of the world’s oldest functioning Christian monasteries. Critics say the dispute, which has become a rallying cry for Christian church groups across Europe, is a new …

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki called on the new US President Barack Obama to understand and recognize the new Middle East now emerging in the world system. “The most urgent requirement for Obama is to understand the emerging Middle East. To do so, the new US administration needs …

TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Iranian lawmaker cautioned that the West, especially the US, has resorted to soft overthrow plots to topple democratic governments. “Today, western states, especially the US, have turned to soft revolution to topple governments in democratic states by inciting public opinion,” member of the Iranian parliament’s National …

TEHRAN (FNA)- Sustained engagement and dialogue is necessary to diminish New Delhi and Islamabad concerns, Pakistani foreign minister reiterated on Tuesday. Stressing the importance of anti-terrorism cooperation between the two countries, Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that suspending the dialogue between the two countries is just to the advantage of …

TEHRAN (FNA)- The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon described Israeli attacks on UN building and schools during war in Gaza outrageous. “It is an outrageous and totally unacceptable attack on the United Nations,” Ban said about the destruction of UN-run buildings and schools in Gaza during Israel’s 22-day war …

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned Czech charge d’affaire in Tehran Jan Kouril, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, to criticize EU’s double-standard policy towards human rights violations in Gaza. The Ministry also criticized European Union’s fecklessness that has encouraged Israel to continue brutalities against Palestinian …

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran shut its natural gas pipeline to Turkey on Tuesday for maintenance work following a technical hitch. Mahmoud Loqmani, a supervisor at one of the gas dispatching centers in Iran, said Turkey’s state gas company BOTAS was informed of the stop in gas flow. Turkish media outlets also …