Officials of the Iraqi Central Bank and the independent electoral commission have criticized a Supreme Court ruling that links the two bodies to the cabinet. The ruling will put the bank, the commission, and several other key bodies under the direct supervision of the government -- a move critics say will endanger their independence.
A glowing biography of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev by a former British cabinet minister has been published in Kazakh.
The campaign manager for a Belarusian opposition presidential candidate has been released from jail. Uladzimer Kobets headed Andrey Sannikau's campaign in the December 19 presidential election. He was one of hundreds of opposition activists arrested for taking part in the mass rally in Minsk on December 19-20 to protest official election results.
The widow of an Iranian activist hanged this week for ties with a banned opposition group says the family has been warned not to hold a mourning ceremony for him. Jafar Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Hajaghai were executed on January 24 for ties with the exiled People's Mujahedin of Iran (also known as the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization, MKO).
A Ukrainian police sergeant has been fired after he was caught on video insulting the Ukrainian language.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has had talks with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on the sidelines of the economic meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Ban said he is looking forward to the 2011 Chornobyl and nuclear energy conference to be organized by Ukraine, in April 2011, as part of the 25th commemoration of the Chornobyl disaster.
Former South African President Nelson Mandela was in the hospital today for what his office said were routine tests amid worries over the health of the 92-year-old anti-apartheid icon. Mandela undergoes regular hospital checkups, but his latest visit starting on January 26 stretched into an unusual overnight stay.
Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka today accused neighboring Poland of plotting to oust him in order to redraw the border between the two countries. Speaking to parliament, Lukashenka claimed Warsaw wants to move the border 250 kilometers east to the Belarusian capital Minsk. Lukashenka has previously accused Poland and Germany of plotting to overthrow him -- claims both countries have rejected.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's chairman is in Tirana to try and defuse a major political crisis after a violent opposition protest last week left three people dead. Audronis Azubalis, who is also Lithuania's Foreign Minister, will meet Prime Minister Sali Berisha, opposition leader Edi Rama, and President Bamir Topi.
A U.S. consular official has been remanded in custody in the Pakistani city of Lahore after appearing in court for allegedly shooting dead two people who he said wanted to rob him. Police said the American could be charged with both murder and illegally carrying a weapon in the incident, which occurred on a crowded street on January 27.
Officials say a car bomb struck a funeral in Baghdad today, killing more than 40 people and injuring dozens. Nearly 200 people have been killed in bombings the past week in Iraq, raising concern about a spike in violence as the U.S. military prepares to withdraw from the country by the end of the year.
An alleged member of the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir organization has been arrested in Kyrgyzstan's southern Jalal-Abad region. A Jalal-Abad Oblast official told journalists a 29-year-old resident of Kara-Kol was detained January 26. Police stopped the suspect's car and found dozens of books and leaflets of extremist religious content.
Load more
