Eurasia

Russia no longer reliable gas supplier: IEA

MADRID (Reuters) – Russia has lost its status as a reliable gas supplier to Europe after European Union states were cut off for days from Russian gas, the International Energy Agency (IEA), said Thursday. The agency advises top industrialized countries on energy policy. “Russia has cut off its status as …

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Pakistan arrests over a dozen militants in Karachi

KARACHI (Reuters) – Pakistani police arrested more than a dozen Islamist militants in the southern city of Karachi Thursday after a gun battle following a pre-dawn raid on their hideout, officials said. Two policemen were killed and nine wounded before the militants’ resistance was broken after several hours of shooting. …

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Iran, Tunisia Review Cooperation

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran’s Vice-President for Judicial and Parliamentary Affairs Mohammad Reza Rahimi conferred with Tunisian Foreign Minister Abdelwaheb Abdallah over bilateral ties and mutual cooperation in a meeting in Tunis. During the meeting, the two sides discussed bilateral relations, explored ways to further develop relations and exchanged views over regional …

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Iran, Kazakhstan, Jordan, UAE Discuss Interaction within CICA

TEHRAN (FNA)- Executive Director of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) Dulat Bakishev made a working visit to Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Iran from January 8 to 14. The visit aimed at a discussion of the issues of interaction within the CICA, Kazinform …

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Swiss Ambassador to Obey Iran’s Islamic Dress Code

TEHRAN (FNA)- Switzerland’s newly-appointed ambassador to Tehran, who is believed to be the first female ambassador to Tehran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, said she will observe Iran’s Islamic dress code (Hijab) during her mission in Islamic Republic. Livia Leu Agosti arrived in Iran this week as Berne’s woman in …

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Iran Voices Dismay at Launching BBC Persian TV Service

TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Iranian official on Wednesday voiced dismay at launching British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Persian TV service. “Launching BBC Persian service TV is detrimental to Iranian national security” Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie as said. He warned that Tehran would take “necessary measures” to thwart the plan. …

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Macedonia Protests Over Greek Minister Comments

Skopje has officially protested at the European Commission in Brussels over comments by the Greek Culture Minister that Macedonia will soon dissolve and be carved up between a ‘Greater Albania’ and a ‘Greater Bulgaria’. Macedonia’s mission in Brussels condemned the statements by Antonis Samaras as “counterproductive” for bilateral relations, and …

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North Kosovo Violence ‘Crime-Linked’ – EULEX

The violence in Kosovo’s Serb-populated north earlier this month was not explicitly political but linked to crime, said the chief of the European Union’s police and justice mission in Kosovo. Most of the120,000 Serbs who live in Kosovo among two million Albanians reject the territory’s declaration of independence from Serbia. …

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Kosovo ‘Not Free’, Bosnia, Macedonia Partly

The 2008 Freedom House report classifies newly-independent Kosovo as a “not free” country, while Albania, Bosnia, Montenegro as well as European Union-candidate Macedonia are only “partly free”. Freedom House is a United States-based international NGO that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom and human rights. Its annual survey …

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Serbia To Extend Gas Imports To Jan 20

Serbia said it will import gas from Hungary and Germany until Jan 20, and hopes to raise the amount by 2 million cubic metres to cover its needs until the row between Russia and Ukraine is resolved. The country’s energy ministry said Serbia had sufficient crude oil to keep the …

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