February, 2009

• 2 February

  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 …

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• 1 February

  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 …

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• 1 February

  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 …

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• 1 February

  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 …

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• 1 February

  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 …

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• 1 February

  Iraq holds peaceful election, Obama, U.N. applaud

  BAGHDAD  – Iraqis held their most peaceful election since the fall of Saddam Hussein on Saturday, voting for provincial councils without a single major attack in a poll that demonstrated the country’s dramatic security gains. U.S. President Barack Obama hailed the poll as an important step toward Iraqis taking responsibility …

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• 1 February

  Early signs show Iraq’s Maliki sweeps south in poll

  BASRA, Iraq  – Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s candidates look set for sweeping victories in provincial polls, a result that could overturn the post-Saddam political order and strengthen the hand of a leader once seen as weak. Although official preliminary results will not be published for days, leaders of rival …

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• 1 February

  Suicide bomber hits foreign forces in Kabul

  KABUL (Reuters) – A Taliban suicide car bomber hit a convoy of foreign troops on the outskirts of the Afghan capital on Sunday, wounding two Afghan civilians and slightly injuring a French soldier, officials said. The attack took place on Kabul’s western edge near a bridge where Italian troops and …

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• 1 February

  Afghanistan hits back at Western critics over aid

  KABUL  – Afghanistan hit back at Western criticism of official corruption on Sunday, saying some 80 percent of international aid was outside government control so donors should be held to account. As U.S. President Barack Obama makes Afghanistan his foreign policy priority, President Hamid Karzai’s government has come under increased …

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• 1 February

  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 …

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