TOKYO – Japan will pay the salaries of Afghanistan’s 80,000 police officers for six months as part of its ongoing financial support for the country, a government official said Tuesday. Tokyo will also fund the building of 200 schools and 100 hospitals, and train thousands of teachers in Afghanistan, said …

SANG-I-KHEL, Afghanistan (Reuters) – The United States’ decision to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan will mean little to the people of northern Sang-i-Khel village whose fight is not against Taliban insurgents but against hunger. Last week, U.S. President Barack Obama ordered 17,000 additional U.S. soldiers to Afghanistan to tackle …

Dan Dungaciu d.dungaciu@gmail.com „Curat murdar, coane Fănică!” Luna aceasta se împlineşte un an de la declararea independenţei Kosovo. Printr-o coincidenţă, la Chişinău a fost organizată cea de-a treia conferinţă internaţională dedicată chestiunii transnistrene. Prilej de dezbatere şi bilanţ în dosarul transnistrean. Dosar care, anticipând, nu arată deloc bine. Sau, oricum, …

BUCHAREST, Romania: Romania’s foreign minister says his country does not want citizens suspected of committing crimes in Italy to be repatriated. Cristian Diaconescu said Romania would accept the repatriation of Romanians who have been convicted of crimes, but not suspects. Anti-Romanian sentiment in Italy has escalated after recent attacks by …

Sofia. According to a report of the World Bank, Bulgaria is among 6 EU member states that might undergo a symbolic economic growth of 0-2% during 2009, along with Romania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia, The Dnevnik Daily informs. “The prognoses for the region are very uncertain, negative …

A scandal linked with grandiose affairs in Bulgaria’s Customs Agency will shake the country next week, MP Yane Yanev, who will file evidential documents in the prosecution, told Darik Sunday. He claims to be in the possession of data and facts that will reveal a person within the Customs Agency …

Traditional Shrovetide festivities culminated after nearly two weeks of events taking place across the country with carnivals in numerous Slovenian towns. Slovenia’s biggest carnival took place in Ptuj, a town in north-eastern Slovenia with a rich cultural tradition that can be traced back to the Roman times when it was …

Slovenia will not keep the vignette tolling system for long, however, it will remain as long as a new, more sustainable and fair system of motorway tolling is found, Transport Minister Patrick Vlacic said. He added that the Slovenian Motorway Company DARS could be facing a deficit of between EUR …

The Serb-dominated Bosnian entity of Republika Srpska and its biggest city of Banja Luka were ordered to pay 32.4 million euros to Bosnia’s Islamic Community as compensation for destroying 16 religious sites, including mosques and shrines, during the 1992-95 war. Banja Luka’s Main Court announced the first instance ruling on …

Macedonia’s Democratic Party of Albanians, whose activists were blamed for violence and fraud at last June’s general election, has accused the government of targetting its members for selective punishment, while ignoring the actions of their rival, the Democratic Union for Integration. TheWest wants Macedonia to punish the perpetrators of the …