ASTANA – Kazakhstan announced plans on Monday to effectively nationalize two of its leading banks as the global financial crisis tightened its grip on Central Asia’s biggest economy. The government said it will buy 78.14 percent of shares in the biggest bank, BTA, which has assets of $28 billion. BTA, …
Read More »US, UK Oil Workers Strikes Boost Prices
TEHRAN (FNA)- Oil prices rallied to near $42 a barrel over threats of wildcat strikes by refinery workers on both sides of the Atlantic. US sweet crude for March delivery jumped 22 cents to $41.90 a barrel while London Brent crude increased 42 cents to $46.30. Dealers say a possible …
Read More »World Bank Demolished Albania Village
A World Bank project meant to safeguard Albania’s coastal zones was used to selectively demolish parts of a village in southern Albania and leave many families homeless, according to an internal report , which additionally notes allegations of corruption and efforts by World Bank officials to cover up the events …
Read More »Belgrade’s Underground Film Scene: Small, But Thriving
Every Sunday, the Illegal Cinema puts on a movie that has never been regularly distributed. But, although the screenings are free, there are strings attached. Six o’clock had already come and gone while people were still piling in and taking their seats in the small 25-square-metre room that no one …
Read More »EU Trying To Sway Serbia Over Kosovo Serbs
The European Union is trying to convince Belgrade not to pursue its plan for parallel structures in Serb areas of Kosovo, said the head of Kosovo’s International Civilian Office, Pieter Feith. Belgrade has vowed to never recognise Kosovo’s secession in February last year and is keeping a firm hold on …
Read More »Serbia Wary Of Kosovo Force Role Abroad
Serbia is worried that Kosovo’s Security Forces (KSF) will not only be the starting point for a bigger armed force, but could participate in peacekeeping missions abroad before Serbia itself does, said Serbia’s Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac. Last week Kosovo inaugurated a NATO-sponsored security force that is an army in …
Read More »Russia’s new patriarch seen as modernizer
MOSCOW – Patriarch Kirill, enthroned on Sunday as the new leader of around 160 million Russian Orthodox believers, is seen as an outspoken modernizer who may thaw icy ties with the Catholic Church. The first patriarch elected since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kirill, 62, replaces Alexiy …
Read More »Iran Voices Support for Turkey
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian First Vice President Parviz Davoudi said Sunday that Tehran will not spare any efforts to help Turkey if West decides to press Ankara for the anti-Israeli stance adopted by the country’s premier in the Davos conference. “Turkey as a great country with deep roots, like Iran, will …
Read More »Senior MP: Erdogan Action Affected by Iran’s Anti-Zionist Strategy
TEHRAN (FNA)- Chairman of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission viewed Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s stance against the Zionist regime as affected by Iran’s Anti-Zionist Strategy. “The Turkish prime minister’s action shows this reality that there is a global hatred for the Zionist regime’s crimes …
Read More »EC Secretary Terms Erdogan’s Protest “Burst of Muslim Anger”
TEHRAN (FNA)- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s protest against the Israeli regime at the Davos meeting was a burst of Muslims’ anger, Secretary of Iran’s Expediency Council Mohsen Rezaei said here on Sunday. “Turkish prime minister’s recent action was a burst of a swallowed anger of the Islamic world …
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