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Breffni O'Rourke

Also by Breffni O'Rourke

December 11, 2008
Gagarin Space Memorabilia Goes To Auction At Sotheby's

Historic documents from the earliest days of the Soviet space program are to go under the hammer at the exclusive Sotheby's auction house in New York. They include a report on man's first flight in space by cosmonaut Yury Gagarin in 1961, which contains the first description of the Earth as seen from space.
December 09, 2008
Aleksy, Orthodox Patriarch Of All Russia, Laid To Rest

In Moscow, the first Russian Orthodox patriarch of post-Soviet times, Aleksy II, has been laid to rest. The patriarch of Moscow and All Russia died on December 5 at the age of 79 after guiding the world's biggest Orthodox church through two decades of revival following its years in the wilderness under communism.
December 03, 2008
Some 100 States Signing Cluster-Bomb Ban

Representatives from more than 100 governments have begun signing a document binding their countries not to make, stockpile, or use cluster bombs.
November 26, 2008
Medvedev In Caracas To Build Ties With U.S. Critic Chavez

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is due to arrive in Venezuela, the latest stop of a Latin American tour that's already taken him to Brazil. His arrival comes a day after a fleet of Russian naval ships arrived in Venezuela to take part in joint military exercises. It's Russia's first such deployment in the Caribbean since the Cold War.
November 20, 2008
The Car You Loved To Hate

The Yugo, the car everyone -- or almost everyone -- loved to hate, is no more. The last one has rolled of the production line at the Zastava factory in the Serbian town of Kragujevac.
October 20, 2008
Russian President Visits Armenia

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev begins a two-day official visit to Armenia on October 20, his first trip to the small Caucasus state since he became president.
October 17, 2008
The Art Of Sizing An Oil Field

Turkmenistan is in the news this week after confirming that its South Yolotan-Osman natural-gas field is among the five biggest in the world. That assertion is based on a survey done by an independent British firm.
September 30, 2008
Somali Pirates Continue To Hold Ukrainian Ship

Pirates are holding a Ukrainian-owned ship loaded with Russian tanks off the East African coast, as U.S. warships and helicopters circle the vessel and trap the pirates.
September 04, 2008
Nicaragua Recognizes Georgian Rebel Regions

He's back. Daniel Ortega, the aging Sandinista revolutionary who was long a thorn in Washington's side, is showing some of his old spark.
July 15, 2008
Anglican Leaders' Summit Unlikely To Repair Rift

While church leaders prepare for a once-in-a-decade conference, some conservatives are boycotting the meeting as divisions deepen over liberal interpretations of the faith.
July 02, 2008
Muslim School Dispute In Australia Highlights Tensions

Local objections to a planned Islamic school in an Australia town reveal the social tensions that accompany the country's growing Muslim population.
June 26, 2008
Anglicans Perilously Close To Split Over Gay Clergy

The Anglican church communion is facing the possibility of a complete fracture over the question of gay clergy.
June 11, 2008
Ireland's Mighty 1 Percent

Ireland's comparative handful of voters seems set to decide the future shape of the European Union, with its 490 million people.
June 03, 2008
Conference Hears Calls For Communist Crimes Not To Go Unpunished

PRAGUE -- It's been almost two decades since most of Eastern and Central Europe peacefully disentangled itself from the failing ideology of communism. But not everyone is content to let the repressions and injustices of that era slip quietly into oblivion.
May 14, 2008
Romania, Bulgaria Under The Microscope

Both countries have become the "problem kids" of the European Union since they were admitted in January 2007, amid much celebration in Bucharest and Sofia.
April 30, 2008
Stuck In The Middle

Iran dismisses suggestions that a blocked shipment bound for Bushehr contains banned material, and Russia says its papers are in order. But Baku won't budge.
April 25, 2008
World: Seeking Food Security In An Uncertain World

(ITAR-TASS) The future arrived more quickly than anyone expected.
April 08, 2008
China Agrees First Free-Trade Deal With Developed Country

It's a case of the whale making friends with the minnow. Or some people would say a shark with a minnow.
February 07, 2008
Afghanistan: Rice, Miliband Make Surprise Visit

Rice with Miliband in London on February 6 (AFP) U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband have made a surprise visit to Kabul to press reluctant NATO allies to share the combat burden in Afghanistan, and to smooth over a potentially serious rift with President Hamid Karzai.
January 29, 2008
Uncle Of Afghan Student Condemned To Death Says Court Biased

The uncle of an Afghan journalism student sentenced to death for blasphemy claims that the appellate judge is biased against his nephew.

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