The Azerbaijani government has quietly stopped the operations of two international nongovernmental organizations in what some local observers claim is a further attempt to clamp down on the country’s relatively weak civil society.

• April 21, 2011

Rage against the election ban on 12 independent candidates poured out into the streets of Istanbul, Diyabakır, Van and Hakkari on Tuesday, drawing a harsh response from police.

• April 20, 2011

Japanese exports fell more than expected in March, as damage from last month's earthquake and tsunami affected shipments.

• April 20, 2011

Turkish State Minister responsible for foreign trade has urged a free trade agreement between Turkey and India to boost mutual trade.

• April 19, 2011

Ukraine failed to raise the $1 billion to seal Chernobyl, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, as budget concerns and the accident at Fukushima in Japan caused some governments to balk at further spending.

• April 19, 2011

Ex-Ukrainian premier Yulia Tymoshenko signed the 2009 gas deal with Russia without consent from her cabinet, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka said.

• April 18, 2011

An international economic forum Caspian Dialogue-2011 will open here on Monday. High on the agenda of the forum will be “the policy of the Caspian regional countries in the mineral resources and the Caspian legal status,” the forum organizing committee said. Alongside, the forum is planning to discuss “the development of the regional transport infrastructure, the construction of energy-efficient houses, information technologies, the development of the fishery industry and the restoration of biological diversity.”

• April 18, 2011

The oil price hike will promote growth in major oil exporters Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia, but create more poverty in the Eurasian region

• April 18, 2011