January, 2009

• 22 January

  Obama Knows Albania, Balkans Well – Envoy

  President Barack Obama is well informed about Albania and the region, the US ambassador in Tirana, John L Withers, said in an interview aired on Tuesday. Withers told TV Klan that he had a chance to talk to the than Senator of Illinois, at the time of his confirmation hearing …

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• 22 January

  Bosnia Hopes Obama Renews US Balkan Role

  Bosnians tuned in en masse to the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States, with politicians and analysts saying they hoped for renewed US engagement in the Balkans after eight years of Washington paying very little attention. Like in many other countries which are dependent …

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• 22 January

  Macedonians’ Household Debt Jumps In ’08

  At the end of 2008 Macedonians owed around 1.0 billion euros to banks in mortgage, business and other household loans, an equivalent of 500 euros for each of the country’s two million people, local media say. This marks a significant increase from last year’s average indebtedness of an estimated 337 …

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• 22 January

  Romania Starts Receiving Russian Gas

  The import of Russian natural gas resumed Wednesday morning, after it was halted for two weeks, Romania’s state-owned pipeline operator Transgaz said. Russia’s Gazprom cut off natural gas supplies on January 7 due to economic disagreements with Ukraine. Ukraine is the main transit route for Russian gas pipelines to the …

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• 22 January

  Gas Crisis Over – Bulgaria Minister

  Bulgaria’s Minister of Energy and Economy Petar Dimitrov said on Wednesday that the austerity measures in natural gas consumption would be lifted after Russia and the Ukraine resolved their gas pricing dispute. . “We have gas, the crisis is over”, the Minister declared explaining all technical conditions to do away …

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• 22 January

  Gaza truce fuels speculation of talking to Hamas

  JERUSALEM (Reuters) – War ends in the Gaza Strip, a new U.S. president is sworn in, and suddenly this week there is new talk about talks between sworn enemies Israel and Hamas. But talk may be as far as it goes. Neither the contenders in Israel’s election nor Barack Obama …

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• 22 January

  Christian monastery in Turkey fights to keep land

  MIDYAT, Turkey (Reuters) – In a remote village near the Turkish-Syrian border, a land dispute with neighboring villages is threatening the future of one of the world’s oldest functioning Christian monasteries. Critics say the dispute, which has become a rallying cry for Christian church groups across Europe, is a new …

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• 22 January

  Iraq religious parties may face election backlash

  BAGHDAD (Reuters) -When Iraqis last voted in 2005, some in Washington feared the mainly Muslim nation would veer in the direction of Iran, an Islamic theocracy, instead of becoming the moderate democracy they envisioned for post-Saddam Iraq. The question when Iraqis elect new provincial leaders on January 31 will be …

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• 22 January

  Palestinians set out basis for talks with Israel

  RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Palestinian political leaders said on Wednesday any resumption of peace talks with Israel would require the Jewish state to commit to withdraw from land occupied in 1967 and freeze all settlement activity. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) issued a statement in the West Bank city …

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• 22 January

  West should deal with Hamas, exiled leader says

  DAMASCUS (Reuters) – Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal urged the West Wednesday to lift its boycott of the Palestinian Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip. “I tell European nations … three years of trying to eliminate Hamas is enough. It is time for you to deal with Hamas, which has …

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