Eurasia

EU, NATO welcome Georgia vote despite concerns

BRUSSELS – NATO and the European Union welcomed on Monday the conduct of Georgia’s election in which incumbent President Mikhail Saakashvili claimed victory, but demanded that allegations of irregularities be cleared up fast.

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Khans of Central Asia

Uzbek President Islam Karimov won the December 23 national election, which was not unexpected. However, it is quite unusual that this will be his third term in office, despite the fact that the Uzbek Constitution limits presidents to two terms.  The Karimov administration made no attempt to amend the constitution …

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Ukraine parliament meets, but no debate on PM

KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s parliament reconvened on Thursday a day after the opposition prevented the chamber from sitting, but there was no indication when it would reconsider a proposal to restore Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister.

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Tymoshenko fails in bid for Ukraine premiership

KIEV (Reuters) – Yulia Tymoshenko, a leading force in Ukraine’s 2004 “Orange Revolution”, narrowly failed to win parliament’s backing to restore her as prime minister on Tuesday and accused her rivals of cheating.

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Railway link between Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran

In a historic ceremony Saturday, President Berdymuhamedov of Turkmenistan used a gold-plated spanner to bolt together two sections of rails, marking the formal start of construction of railway link between Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran.   

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