 RFE/RL Headlines 01.07.2009 A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| News  Ukraine Parliament Passes Critical Funding For Euro 2012 Ukraine's parliament has authorized more than $1 billion of funding needed for the Euro 2012 soccer championship. More  Soviet Singer Zykina Dead At 80 Russian state television has reported that Lyudmila Zykina, one of the former Soviet Union's best-loved folksingers, has died at the age of 80. More  Russian, Georgian Talks End Without Results Georgian and Russian officials met for security talks in Geneva on July 1 -- the sixth such meeting since their five-day war in August 2009. More  Watchdog Says Rights Abuses Block N. Caucasus Stability Amnesty International said fresh counterterrorist operations since Moscow lifted 10-year security restrictions in April could allow further abuses. More Kyrgyzstan's Suleyman Mountain Added To UN Heritage List Suleyman Mountain is located in the center of Osh, and is considered one of the ancient centers of Central Asia and the Great Silk Road. More  Public Skateboarding, Drinking Banned In Dushanbe Officials in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe have banned alcohol consumption, skateboards, and roller-blading/skating in public places, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports. More The Nighttime Chants Go On "Allah Akbar" from the rooftops in Tehran. More  Ukrainians Lop Off Lenin's Nose I don't know about you but I believe I've never seen a truly beautiful or aesthetic statue of Lenin. Perhaps it's because I've seen so many of them they all morphed into one generic image, or perhaps because the subject himself was no great example of masculine loveliness. More  Calling All Informants! Is the Russian Academy of Sciences soliciting informants to expose sinister plots within its ranks to falsify Russian history? A letter to the academy's senior staff seems to suggest they are. More  'Serious Fissures' In an exclusive interview with RFE/RL, prominent Iranian cleric Hojatoleslam Mohammad Ali Ayazi describes the deep divisions in the Iranian establishment and the significance of the clergy's growing criticism. More  New Avenues For Dissent Nearly three weeks after Iran’s disputed presidential vote, mass protests have waned amid a crackdown by authorities that has left at least 20 dead. Warnings, arrests, and a media clampdown have limited the opposition’s options. But people inside Iran are still finding ways to be heard. More  Auction Flops As International Companies Stay Aloof Iraq's oil industry has suffered a blow as its first auction of production rights in over 30 years failed to draw interest from international oil majors. Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani had touted the foreign licensing round as a key step to boosting Iraq's oil output and giving the government much-needed funds for rebuilding programs. More  Swedes Launch EU Presidency With Plea To Iran The EU's new Swedish Presidency has outlined its priorities at the start of its six months at the helm. Stockholm called on Tehran not to "polarize" itself in the wake of protests over disputed presidential elections, while calling for urgent action on the issue of climate change, one of its top priorities. More  'Iranians Have Inspired People Around the World' Iran's postelection crisis and the protests by many Iranians calling for change have generated a lot of media interest around the world, especially in the United States, where a number of popular websites have been live blogging the events in Iran. One of these websites is "The Huffington Post," on which news editor Nico Pitney has been posting videos and pictures about the protests, violence, and acts of civil disobedience by Iranians. RFE/RL correspondent Golnaz Esfandiari spoke to Nico Pitney about his experience. More  Sweden Takes EU Reins Shifts in priorities are a recurrent feature in the way the EU's rotating presidency functions. But new president Sweden, a country of under 10 million people, has a history of pursuing sweeping agendas despite its small size. More  Competing Paradigms On Russian-EU Cooperation If Russia seeks real internal economic development – development that is stable and sustainable and can serve as a device for Russia’s reassertion into the wider world – then it needs to exploit the strong Western market for its oil and gas. Cooperation will be needed to achieve the Kremlin’s wider aims. More |
