civil society

'The Puzzle of Non-Western Democracy' by Richard Youngs (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 213 pages, $20)

Bookkeeping, as an indispensable part of general accounting and taxation, has been employed from its very inception, no matter how primitive it was, as a tool to record financial transactions and other information pertaining to a business entity on a day-to-day basis. The core function of any type of bookkeeping in any period of history has been, unmistakably, to ensure that records regarding e

Romania's parliament on Tuesday approved the new government of Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos by 389 votes in favour to 115 against.

"We want to act efficiently and achieve good results, so that people regain confidence in public policies. Parliament will have a reliable partner in the government," Ciolos told MPs after the vote.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has appointed Hüseyin Özhan head of its office in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, said the bank in a written statement on Nov. 16. 

Özhan, a senior banker previously in charge of the EBRD's investments in the transport sector in Turkey, is taking up his new post on Nov. 16. 

A mixture of experts, diplomats and civil society activists are to take seats Romania's proposed new cabinet, whose will run the country until the next elections are held in December 2016, prime minister designate Dacian Ciolos announced on Sunday.

As political leaders gathered to discuss a political solution for Syria in Vienna on Nov. 14, a global coalition called on G-20 leaders to develop a Middle East Recovery Plan (MERP), a Marshall Plan-like investment plan, to pull Syria's neighbors back from the brink after more than four years of conflict. 

Kosovo's government says it has reached an agreement with the World Bank and the company Contour Global to build a new power plant and expects to sign the contract soon.

During his visit to the US, Blerand Stavileci, Minister of Economic Development, said he had reached an agreement with Contour Global after negotiations that began in April.

Albania's parliament has voted to set up a National Council for Civil Society in an attempt to create an organized structure that includes the voice of civil society in the policy-making process.

The death toll from last week's nightclub fire in Bucharest has increased to 44 after three more people died from injuries on Sunday, the Romanian authorities said.

Doctors say some 100 wounded remain hospitalised, among them 44 in critical condition, AFP reported.

Only five months since the last general election failed to produce a single-party government, Turkish voters return to polling stations on Nov. 1, with slim prospects of a substantial difference raising the stakes for all parties.