A new system being launched in 2011 by the Turkish government will measure the energy efficiency of every property in Turkey with inefficient homes having to pay higher taxes. If you own or are thinking of buying a property in Turkey, the energy efficiency of the property may now be higher on your list of priorities.

• December 14, 2010

India and France signed seven agreements in the area of nuclear energy technology, including one for setting up nuclear power plants in Haharashra

• December 14, 2010

One of the first cables released by the website WikiLeaks was a May, 2009 cable regarding the delay of removing High Enriched Uranium (HEU) by the U.S. from Pakistan's Atomic Research Reactor-1 (PARR) near Islamabad. In 2007, the Pakistani government agreed to allow the U.S. to ship the unknown quantity of HEU back to the U.S.

• December 14, 2010

Russia's controversial transport blockade of Georgia is threatening to inflict considerable economic damage on Armenia, the Russian regional ally that uses Georgian territory as its main commercial conduit to the outside world. The government in Yerevan is now scrambling to minimize negative consequences of the sanctions for a large number of Armenian businesses trading with Russia.

• December 14, 2010

Turkmenistan has moved closer to opening another market for its natural gas reserves after signing an agreement for a pipeline to India via Afghanistan.

• December 14, 2010

Many people wouldn't know that former United States president Ronald Reagan's signature phrase "trust, but verify" is actually the translation of a Russian proverb - doveryai, no proveryai. Two decades into the post-Cold War era, Moscow wants to reclaim the self-contradictory phrase from the American repertoire and apply it to Russia's "reset" of ties with the United States.

• December 14, 2010

ISSUE #21
12/03/2010

On November 26th, 2010 in Moscow after the Ukrainian-Russian Intergovernmental Commission President of Ukraine announced that he did not rule out Ukraine entering the Customs Union (CU) with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. He added that, in order to achieve that goal certain amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine should be made, which according to him could be done either in the Parliament or by a National referendum. Earlier, in April, Viktor Yanukovych has expressed an opposite opinion regarding this matter. 'Ukraine has made a choice in favor of joining the World Trade Organization (WTO). Ukraine is already integrated in the WTO and today Ukraine entering the Customs Union would be impossible', -he said. th As a reminder, on November 25 European Parliament adopted a resolution on Ukraine. In this document European legislators are calling on Ukraine to make all effort to finish negotiation on an agreement as to the Association Treaty between the European Union (EU) and Ukraine in the first half of 2011. READ MORE

• December 14, 2010

Hundreds of people protested against the Russian government Sunday at two separate rallies in Moscow, with opposition activists calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and nationalists demanding greater rights for ethnic Russians. Several opposition activists were detained.

• December 13, 2010