Eurasia

Bucharest – Romanian President Traian Basescu has ended the first round of talks with political parties over the future Prime Minister, following the November 30 general election. “There were just preliminary discussions, so no final conclusion was reached yet. Negotiations will continue in the days to come,” said sources close …

Pristina – Representatives of security and political authorities in the northern town of Mitrovica said on Friday that the atmosphere remains tense after several cars carrying the KS sticker denoting they were from Kosovo were demolished and an Albanian girl attacked. The head of the municipality, Bajram Rexhepi, said he …

Pristina – The EU’s law-and-order mission, EULEX, will have a small presence in the Serb-dominated north of Kosovo when it launches on December 9, says a mission spokeswoman. Karin Limdal told the BBC that the European Union mission will be present at six police stations and the court in the …

Pristina – The Czech Republic, the country who heads the up coming presidency of the EU, expects that more countries will recognise Kosovo in the coming year. Deputy Prime Minster for European Affairs, Alexander Vondra, said he expects recognitions to come from EU countries which have not done so yet.

Zagreb – Croatia is not yet ready to become a member of the European Union, a Dutch newspaper quoted European Affairs Minister Frans Timmermans as saying. NRC Handelsblad reported that Timmermans said that he “completely disagreed’ with the assessment of EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn after the EU Commission said …

Pristina – Kosovo’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it will open some 22 new embassies in countries around the world in 2009. In the Pristina daily newspaper ‘Zeri’, the ministry’s spokeswoman Albana Beqiri said these embassies will be set up by ambassadors, adding the that ministry will soon begin hiring …

Pristina _ The transformation of Kosovo’s Protection Corps, TMK, into Kosovo’s Security Forces, KSF, has been postponed until January because of delays in appointed a chief. The Kosovo’s Protection Corps, which is mostly made of former fighters from the Kosovo Liberation Army, will continue providing additional security along with NATO …

GYUMRI, Armenia (Reuters) – Zhora Azizyan felt lucky when he was granted temporary housing made of concrete blocks rather than the railway cars given to others after the earthquake that devastated northwestern Armenia. But that was 1988. Now he struggles to paper over the cracks in the walls, and the …

Alexiy II has been laying in state at his residence near Moscow following his sudden death on Friday. Today, the late Patriarch of All Russia is expected to be taken through the capital to be lain in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour after 18 years as head of Russia’s …

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran expressed concern over human rights in France and the wave of Islamophobia in Europe. The remarks were made by Secretary of Human Rights Headquarters of Iran’s Judiciary Mohammad Javad Larijani in a meeting with French Secretary of State for Human Rights Rama Yade in Paris on Wednesday. …