 RFE/RL Headlines 08.06.2009 A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| News  Lebanon's Pro-Western Coalition Wins Surprise Victory Lebanon's pro-Western coalition has claimed a surprise victory in parliamentary elections against the Iranian and Syrian-backed Hizballah and its allies. The pro-Western coalition is expected to extend its majority in parliament. But analysts say there is no guarantee that the results will prevent the country from plunging back into political instability and sectarian violence. More  Obama Wants 'Immediate' Middle East Talks U.S. President Barack Obama wants "immediate" talks between the Palestinians and Israel to forge a comprehensive Middle East peace agreement, U.S. envoy George Mitchell has said. More  Bakiev Confirms Exchange With Karzai On Manas Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev has signaled that he received a letter from his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai regarding the use of the Manas air base in Kyrgyzstan. More A Tbilisi court has ruled that an opposition activist should be held in pretrial detention for up to two months, RFE/RL's Georgian Service reports. More  GM In St. Petersburg Suspends Operations General Motors' St. Petersburg plant has suspended its operations until June 28, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Opposition Journalist Severely Beaten In Kyrgyzstan A Kyrgyz journalist who wrote for an opposition periodical was severely beaten on June 5, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports. More  Daghestan's Slain Interior Minister Awarded Medal The assassinated interior minister of the southern Russian Republic of Daghestan, Lieutenant General Adilgirey Magomedtagirov, will be awarded with a Hero of Russia medal, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Karzai Asks Kyrgyz To Keep Air Base Open To NATO Karzai and Bakiev could discuss the Manas situation at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's summit in Yekaterinburg later this month. More Let's Drink To Russian Gas Gazprom – the Russian energy giant at the heart of Moscow’s gas wars with its western neighbors – has its own anthem. In fact, it’s a drinking song. More  History Is Made To Be Rewritten Russia's Defense Ministry offered a novel reinterpretation of history on June 4, announcing in a paper published on its website that World War II was caused by none other than -- the Poles! More  The Ethnic Card Iran's ethnic minorities, which make up about half of the country's population, stand to have a huge impact on the country's June 12 presidential election. Well aware of this, the candidates are courting minority voters as the election campaign reaches its climax. More  Russia Kidnapping Raises Questions About Rule Of Law The teenage son of a vice president of Russia’s state-owned oil giant Rosneft was snatched outside his college more than two months ago, although the news was only made public last week. The kidnapping has sparked speculation that the crime is part of a battle against one of the top men in the ruling elite. More  EU Voters Choose Status Quo, With Worried Eye On Future Center-right parties have consolidated their gains in European Parliament elections, with a strong protest vote in some countries giving a boost to fringe groups. But the vote was marked by record low turnout of 43 percent. More  Festival Founder Seeks To Raise Awareness Through Music As the Khamoro festival of Romany music, dance, and art took place in Prague, RFE/RL correspondent Kristin Deasy spoke with Darko Sidelic, who co-founded the festival with his mother, Jelena Sidelic. More  Prague Festival Celebrates Romany Music And Art Romany artists and enthusiasts from all over the globe streamed into Prague last week for the Khamoro festival, the city’s annual celebration of all things Roma. The celebration of art and music stands in stark contrast to the frequent discrimination and violence that many Roma face across Europe. More Serbia's Romany minority has been the target of violent attacks and other hate crimes in recent years. But some Romany leaders say that hidden, institutionalized racism presents an even greater danger. Produced by Iva Martinovic of RFE/RL's Balkan Service. More  Postcommunist Societies Susceptible To Racism As Eastern Europe prepares to mark 20 years since the fall of communism, many countries find themselves grappling with spiraling racist violence. Why have ultranationalist groups been gaining momentum and claiming a rising number of victims? More  Germany Has Trouble Countering Neo-Nazis For many, statistics indicating a rise in extreme rightwing violence are alarming enough. But antiracism activists and obervers are even more worried by the lack of a sufficient response from the government. More  The Lessons Of Colonel Kovalyov The occupation of Poland by units of the German Wehrmacht and the Red Army is one of the most shameful episodes in the history of World War II for Russians. This shameful chapter had to be rewritten, and 70 years after the fact Comrade Kovalyov has demonstrated admirable political acumen, telling us how the Poles themselves were to blame for everything. More  Why Russians Resent The Police Police impunity is not simply the sum of abuses by individual officers. There is no way to prevent a recurrence of the Yevsyukov tragedy unless and until the police force as a whole acknowledges that its main task is to protect citizens rather than to ensure that the system continues to function smoothly. More  Ahmadinejad's 'Family Justice' An Iranian website has published a chart detailing the jobs Mahmud Ahmadinejad has given to a number of his siblings, brothers-in-law, and a nephew. More  Another Non-Debate The June 7 televised debate between the two presidential candidates from the reformist camp, Mir Hossein Musavi and Mehdi Karrubi, turned into a opportunity for both candidates to sound off against Iran's incumbent President Mahmud Ahmadinejad -- rather than do much debating of each other. More  Ahmadinejad Talks Soccer...And Azeri? On June 7, President Mahmud Ahmadinejad tried to show his softer side. He promised to personally get involved in eliminating anything holding the national soccer team back from success in the international arena. More  'Lying Is The Worst Sin' As the June 12 presidential election draws near, it seems that incumbent Mahmud Ahmadinejad is getting increasingly aggressive and ruthless toward his rivals. More |
