During the visit of the President of Turkmenistan Berdymukhamedov in Kazakhstan (May 10th -11th) an opening of Kazakhstani-Turkmen part of the railway Uzen – Bereket – Gorgan took place. The accomplishment of the railway project of three-party character in recent years has been contradicting. The first terms of the railway commissioning in a finalized Kazakhstani-Turkmen-Iranian way was planned for the end of 2011. Then they were postponed till December last year. But the parties didn’t manage to fit the reconsidered time frames of the railway commissioning. READ MORE

Iran's Guardian Council, the powerful vetting and oversight committee of the Islamic republic, announced Tuesday its list of eight approved candidates for the June 14 Iranian presidential election. A total of 686 presidential hopefuls had submitted their names for approval, though in recent days dozens of politicians and clerics had withdrawn their candidacies in support of better-known figures. Chief among them were former president Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and outgoing president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's right-hand man, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei. READ MORE

Recently announced gas pipeline project “Yamal – Europe 2” has already obtained scandalous color. The decision of the Prime-Minister of Poland Donald Tusk to fire the Minister of State Treasury of Poland, who was responsible for fuel-energy complex – is the first clear reaction of Europe on this project. The reason for such decision was the signing of the memorandum between “Gazprom” and ”EuRoPolGaz” on the intention regarding the construction of  the gas pipeline “Yamal-Europe-2”. The experts state – this project is of propaganda and blackmailing character. The objective is to force Ukraine to cooperate in gas-transporting sphere on the conditions of “Gazprom”. However, there are also other reasons to lobby the new project –  growing energy and political significance of Russia for Europe.  READ MORE

Mandelson says anti-EU Tories are threatening to 'burn down the house' unless David Cameron caves in to their demands READ MORE

Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang has vowed to increase "mutual trust" with India in his first trip abroad since assuming office. Talks with Indian leaders are expected to focus on trade and recent border tensions.  READ MORE

Lawyers are to challenge the detention of an Irish republican from Lurgan, County Armagh, in the European court. READ MORE

In front of the dominating church of Hallgrímur, in Iceland’s capital Reykjavik, stands the statue of Leif Ericson. He is described as the “son of Iceland, discoverer of Vinland,” the Norse name for what would become North America. The inscription serves as a reminder of the island’s physical and symbolic position in the middle of the Atlantic. READ MORE

The members of NPT should be cooperating with each other to use nuclear energy peacefully, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili said, Press TV reported live.  READ MORE

It's been more than 20 years since the last coal was dug out of the ground by the once-thriving mining communities of Belgium's Campine region. READ MORE

There are opinions, suggestions and discussions on the fact that 2013 has been and should be a crucial in terms of Turkey-EU relations. New era is regarded as a new opportunity to revitalize relations between Turkey and the EU which have been stable for a long period of time. Public opinion, based on both the transfer of the helm of EU term-presidency from Greek Cypriots to Ireland and leader change in Southern Cyprus as well as the promises of some politicians such as Hollande giving green light to the opening of new negotiation chapter, is dominated by the opinion and expectation of occurrence of new parameters in relations. In this regard, furthermore, the possible revival of relations with the EU may have Turkey empowered in the face of developments in its region. The possibility of conducting this interaction in the opposite direction is of course another issue at stake. Turkey to provide a unique opportunity as being an effective partner in its region to the EU, which couldn’t play first chair in international politics as far as the desired extent, is something which may increase the glamour regarding the revival of bilateral relations.   READ MORE