To Be or Not to Be...? Someone’s grief, and someone’s drinking party

Traditions of the Kyrgyz people were being formed with the help of economic, trade, domestic and other relations with kindred and other tribes that were closely related to the geography of their ha...

Iran of the 60s: unsuccessful attempt to reform

After the coup of 19 March 1953 in the socio-political history of Iran there were fundamental changes: the powers of parliament were limited and the absolute power of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi was...

Topic: Regional rivalry in the Middle East.

In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran are two countries that claim to leadership in the region. With a powerful resources and political potential these countries are the...

Afghanistan

Afghanistan, Germany to sign agreement on strategic partnership
15.05.2012
Afghanistan|Public Policy & Politics|Middle East

Afghanistan and Germany will sign an agreement on strategic partnership, Office of the Spokesperson to the President of Afghanistan told Trend.

The agreement will be signed during the visit of fghan president Hamid Karzai and other Afghan officials to Germany.

During the visit, Karzai is also scheduled to meet with German Foreign Minister and other official bodies.

After the Germany visit, Karzai will head for the United States.

North Afghanistan flood kills at least 27
11.05.2012
Afghanistan|Culture & Living|Middle East

A flash flood swept through villages in a mountainous area of northern Afghanistan on Friday, killing at least 27 people, authorities said, Huffington Post reported.

It was the second major flood reported this week in the north of the country.

Abdul Jabar Taqwa, the governor of Takhar province, said flood waters broke through a dam early Friday, washed down a valley and damaged several villages in Ishkamish district.

"It was a very powerful flood. It hit around midnight," Taqwa said. "Dozens of villages have been hit. I'm worried that the death toll will go up."

NATO optimistic about finding Afghanistan "solutions" with Hollande
11.05.2012
Afghanistan|Public Policy & Politics|Middle East

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Friday he believes "solutions" can be found in a looming showdown with French president-elect Francois Hollande over the country's withdrawal from Afghanistan, DPA reported.

Rasmussen said he briefly discussed Afghanistan with Hollande during a congratulatory phone conversation the day before.

During his election campaign, Hollande promised to withdraw all combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2012 - one year earlier than his predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy, had foreseen.

Man in Afghan army uniform kills NATO soldier
07.05.2012
Afghanistan|War & Terrorism|Far East

A man in an Afghan army uniform shot dead a member of the NATO-led troops in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, while another foreign soldier died in a roadside bombing elsewhere, the alliance said, dpa reported.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement that its troops killed the attacker in return fire. It did not release information about the nationality of the soldier or the exact location of the attack.

In eastern Afghanistan, another NATO soldier was killed in a roadside bombing. dpa hrs ar Author: Hares Kakar

NATO not to abandon Afghanistan: spokesman
07.05.2012
Afghanistan|War & Terrorism|Middle East

NATO and its allied nations will not leave Afghanistan after Afghan security forces take full control of security from NATO and U.S. forces by the end of 2014, a NATO spokesman said Monday.

"NATO is clearly committed to supporting Afghanistan beyond 2014, when the gradual transition of responsibility for the security of the country from ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) troops to Afghan forces will be fully implemented,"NATO civilian representative spokesman Dominic Medley told reporters in a joint weekly press briefing.

Afghan flood kills 27 people at wedding, hundreds missing
07.05.2012
Afghanistan|Culture & Living|Middle East

Flashfloods due to heavy rainfall killed at least 27 people at a wedding in northern Afghanistan, while hundreds of others were missing or trapped under mud, officials said Monday, dpa reported.

Floods swept through several villages in Sancharak and Kohistanant districts of Sari-e-Pul province on Sunday night, the officials said.

Faizullah Sadat, a local director of the disaster management authority office said 21 people including women and children were found dead after rainfall and flashflood hit a wedding party in Dehmarda village of Sancharak district.

Great Expectations for United States in Afghanistan
03.05.2012
Afghanistan|Public Policy & Politics|Middle East

U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan with an unannounced visit in the evening on May 1. It is worth noting that Obama's visit to Afghanistan was held on the eve of the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's liquidation. The leader of "Al Qaeda" was destroyed by a detachment of U.S. Special Forces in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.

Obama met with representatives of the Afghan government and U.S. forces, located at U.S. military base in Bagram during the visit. At both meetings, Obama said the U.S. would leave the region in the next two years.

Obama sees new chapter in strategic pact with Afghanistan
02.05.2012
Afghanistan|Public Policy & Politics|Middle East

U.S. President Barack Obama has signed the strategic partnership agreement with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai in Kabul, Obama said early Wednesday in his live speech from the Bagram airbase, 50 km north of Kabul, Xinhua reported.

The U.S. president, who paid a secret visit to Kabul late Tuesday night which coincided with the first anniversary of the killing of Osma bin Ladin, hailed the historic agreement saying that the pact defines a new U.S.-Afghan relationship and a new chapter begins.

8 killed in attack on foreign camp in eastern Kabul
02.05.2012
Afghanistan|War & Terrorism|Middle East

At least eight people were killed and 17 others injured Wednesday morning when suicide bombings and ensuing gunshots took place near a camp running by foreigners in eastern part of Afghan capital of Kabul, a police source said.

"There were at least two suicide car bombing near a logistic camp named Green Village run by foreigners in Pul-i-Charkhi area this morning," a police source told Xinhua.

He said the killed include a foreign security guard, five civilians and two suicide bombers.

Afghan floods kill more than 90 people in one week
26.04.2012
Afghanistan|Culture & Living|Middle East

More than 90 people have been killed in one week in Afghanistan because of heavy rains and flash floods, an official said Wednesday, DPA reported.

Dayem Kakar, the director of the Natural Disaster Management Authority, said in the past week at least 41 people were injured in the floods that hit 20 provinces, mainly in the north.

He said 47 people were missing, and rescuers were still trying to find them. "Hundreds of houses were also destroyed in the recent floods and so many people have been displaced," Kakar said.