 RFE/RL Headlines 7/20/2009 4:39:17 PM A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| News Armenian Cites 'Worrisome Point' Over Karabakh David Shahnazarian, a former national security chief and member of the Armenian National Congress, described the "Madrid principles" -- revealed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Minsk Group co-chairs on July 10 -- as "alarming" and containing "no positive elements." More  Famous Turkmen Opera Singer Dies At 85 Media in Turkmenistan, where opera was banned between 2001 and 2008, have not reported soprano Annagul Annakuliyeva's death. More  EU Protests Over Arrest Of Bloggers In Azerbaijan European Union officials visiting Azerbaijan protested on July 20 at the arrest of two opposition bloggers, a case seized on by rights groups concerned over shrinking freedoms in the oil-producing state. More  In India, Upbeat Clinton Seeks To Dispel 'Stereotypes' The two sides were expected to sign a framework agreement on the sale of American arms to India, and also discuss U.S. companies' participation in India's civilian nuclear energy program. More  Khatami Wants Referendum On Government Legitimacy Iran's reformist former president has called for a referendum on the legitimacy of the Iranian government, challenging the supreme leader who has backed the result of the disputed June presidential poll. More  Baku Court Rejects Appeals By Jailed Bloggers A Baku court has rejected appeals by jailed bloggers Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli and ruled that they will remain in detention, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports. More  Ebadi Urges Solidarity With Iran's 'Mourning Mothers' Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi has called on women around the world to express solidarity with mourning mothers in Iran by wearing black and gathering once a week in their neighborhood parks. More Romanian President Booed By Ethnic Hungarians Romania's President Traian Basescu was repeatedly booed during a speech on July 18 at an ethnic Hungarian cultural festival in central Romania. More  Mr. Musavi, Where Can We Find You? Blog Mahandaily takes opposition leader Mir Hossein Musavi to task for failing to reach out more frequently to the public. More Blogger Lotfan Inja Chort Nazanid (No Napping Here, Please) has seen some of the photos of the faithful outside Friday Prayers on July 17, when Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani delivered the sermon. He doesn't like what he sees. More  Supreme Leader Warns Opposition About 'Instability' Iran's supreme leader has warned the country's opposition against any actions that could destabilize the Islamic establishment, saying the country's "elite" should be cautious about the positions they take on the postelection crisis. More  Iran Says Bosnian Writer Insulted Muslims One of Bosnia’s most prominent writers, Zeljko Ivankovic, is engaged in a bitter war of words with Iranian diplomats, who say his latest book is an attack on Islam. Bosnian intellectuals and writers' groups have rushed to Ivankovic's defense, but Bosnian officials remain on the sidelines. More  Nowhere To Turn Slain activist Natalya Estemirova had helped hundreds of ordinary Chechens document claims of abuse during her years in rights group Memorial's Grozny office. Chechens and international rights groups alike are aghast at the removal of a last line of defense for many vulnerable residents. More  Bill Would Criminalize Discrimination Against Women An Afghan bill on eliminating violence against women is expected to be among the first pieces of legislation to be discussed when Afghan parliamentarians return from summer holidays this week. Under the bill, which has been in the works for years, anyone who bars a woman from attending school, going to work, or visiting a doctor would face prison time. More Speaking at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations last week, two political experts on Iran discussed the impact that Iran's postelection situation will have on its future policies at home and abroad. They were Mohsen Milani, a professor who chairs the Department of Government and International Affairs at the University of South Florida, and Suzanne Maloney, senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. More  'Grave Dangers' Shut Down Rights Group In Chechnya The Russian human rights group Memorial is stopping its work at its office in Chechnya after one of its activists, Natalya Estemirova, was kidnapped and murdered on July 15. RFE/RL’s Tajik Service correspondent Khiromon Bakoeva spoke with Memorial executive committee member Alexander Cherkasov, who said the office was being closed because of concern for the staff’s safety. More  Bosnians Got What They Voted For It is fair to argue that the Bosnian leadership has not earned EU visa liberalization. It is also fair to say that the Bosnian public deserves what it gets from this unstable democracy, insistent on keeping the status quo and voting into office the same nationalist culprits time and again. More |
