Eurasia Press & News

SHEWA, Afghanistan (Reuters) – A Japanese aid worker kidnapped in eastern Afghanistan was found dead, the governor of Nangarhar province said on Wednesday.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistani rivals stepped up their campaign for next week’s presidential election on Wednesday as political uncertainty deepened by a split in the ruling coalition drove stocks lower.

KARACHI (Reuters) – Pakistani stocks fell over 4 percent in early trade on Wednesday to their lowest level in more than two years as investors sold blue chips such as OGDC amid persistent political uncertainty in the country.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The United States asked Iraq for permission to maintain a troop presence there to 2015, but U.S. and Iraqi negotiators agreed to limit their authorization to 2011, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Gunmen kidnapped eight Iraqis from their homes on Saturday in a raid in the country’s volatile Diyala province, where al Qaeda militants continue to roam despite a crackdown by Iraqi security forces, police said.

KIRKUK (Reuters) – A suicide bomber killed at least five people and wounded eight more on Saturday in Iraq’s northern city of Kirkuk, police said.The bomber detonated a suicide vest in a car market in southern Kirkuk, said Major-General Torhan Abdul-Rahman, a senior police official in the city.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – A strong earthquake hit the Lake Baikal area of eastern Siberia on Wednesday, triggering panic, but there were no immediate signs of casualties or major damage, officials said.

TBILISI (Reuters) – Georgians on the streets of Tbilisi reacted defiantly but without surprise on Tuesday to Russia’s recognition of two rebel provinces, some refusing to accept they may have lost Abkhazia and South Ossetia for good.

Russia is not frightened of another Cold War. That is the word from its President Dmitry Medvedev, who is standing firm on his decision to recognise the independence of Georgia’s breakaway regions.

European foreign ministers have been outraged by Russia’s actions in Georgia, and France’s Bernard Kouchner went on French television last night to make a spectacular allegation.