 RFE/RL Headlines 10/23/2009 7:41:55 PM A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| INTERVIEW  Biden Puts ‘Reset’ Fears To Rest U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has just wrapped up a three-day visit to Eastern Europe. In an exclusive interview with RFE/RL, Biden said he believes he has successfully allayed fears that U.S. efforts to improve relations with Russia could come at the expense of Washington's Eastern European allies. More  Full Interview: U.S. Vice President Joe Biden In an exclusive interview, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden spoke with RFE/RL correspondents Brian Whitmore and Abubakar Siddique about the U.S. administration's policy on Russia, the Caucasus, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran. Biden assured Central and Eastern Europeans of the United States' commitment to the region, and said that the United States will not ignore concerns about democracy in dealing with Iran on its nuclear program. More News  Iran Urges Pakistan To 'Hand Over' Militant Leader A top Iranian official has called on Pakistan to hand over the leader of a militant group waging a bloody cross-border rebellion in Iran. Iran's interior minister made the call during a visit to Islamabad, where he's expected to seek a coordinated strategy against Jundallah, which killed 42 people in southeastern Iran on October 18. More  Albright Says Russia Still Concerned With NATO Madeleine Albright, who served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and secretary of state under former President Bill Clinton, told the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Russia continues to view NATO as a hostile alliance, two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union. More Russian Officials Warn Of Film Sparking Ethnic Tensions The legislature of Russia's Krasnodar Krai plans to ask the Culture Ministry to stop the production of a film about the 19th century Russian war in the North Caucasus, RFE/RL's Russian and North Caucasus Services report. More Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has named Suleiman Geremeyev, a little-known cousin of his close associate Adam Delimkhanov, to represent the republic in the Russian parliament's upper house, the Federation Council, RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service reports. More A group in the Ukrainian city of Lviv has started gathering oral histories of the victims of the Communist regime, to be collected at a special library, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports. More  Top U.S. Official Meets With Azerbaijani Officials, NGOs Visiting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Tina Kaidanow met with Azerbaijani officials and representatives of nongovernmental organizations in Baku, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports. More Poland's decision last week to award a number of Azerbaijani officials with Poland's highest orders has provoked critical reactions both there and in Azerbaijan, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports. More  Moscow Precinct Recount Reveals Vote-Count Errors An official recount of votes in one precinct from the October 11 Moscow City Duma elections has given 16 votes to the liberal opposition Yabloko party, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Videos Mocking Georgian Patriarch Stir Controversy Several video clips mocking the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II, have triggered a wave of condemnation in Georgia, RFE/RL's Georgian Service reports. More  Muscovites Commemorate Dubrovka Hostage Victims Muscovites are commemorating victims of the 2002 "Nord-Ost" hostage crisis and storming by Russian security forces of the Dubrovka Theater, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More Five people have applied to be registered as candidates in Ukraine's January 2010 presidential election, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports. More  More Than 1,000 Swine-Flu Cases Registered In Russia The number of the registered swine-flu patients in Russia is now over 1,000, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Armenia, Turkey Differ Over Karabakh's Impact On Relations Talking to RFE/RL about the Turkish-Armenian rapprochement protocols signed in Zurich on October 10, an Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Armenia and Turkey began the rapprochement process with a mutual understanding that progress in bilateral relations should proceed without preconditions. More  CPJ Demands Results Of Probe Of Kyrgyz Journalist's Killing The New-York based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on the Kyrgyz authorities to make public the findings of their investigation into the 2006 murder of an independent journalist in Osh, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports. More  Jailed Kazakh Activist's Relatives Concerned For His Life Relatives of a jailed Kazakh activist say they are concerned about his safety in labor camp, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports. More The Week In Facebook Inspired by "The Atlantic's" mock "World Leaders" Facebook group, RFE/RL presents a Facebook-style summary of last week's events. More  Who Has An Interest In Discrediting Georgia's Patriarch? Video footage posted last week on Georgian websites and on YouTube showing Georgian Patriarch Ilia II with a voiceover of insulting comments about Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has triggered a storm of criticism from the Georgian authorities, opposition parties, and the Georgian Orthodox Church. More  Georgian Parliament Approves New Probe Into First President's Death The Georgian parliament approved on October 20 a proposal by opposition deputy Djondi Baghaturia to form a commission that will conduct a repeat investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Zviad Gamsakhurdia in 1993. The commission will also deliver a formal "legal and political assessment" of the events that preceded Gamsakhurdia's violent ouster in early January 1992. More  Can Serbia Strengthen Russia's Hand? For over a year, Russia has pushed for a new European security body to replace groups like NATO and the OSCE. Moscow appeared to seek a European foothold for its initiative this week when President Dmitry Medvedev told counterparts in Serbia they would be part of the security deal. More  Global Growth Remains Strong Despite Crisis Mobile phone and Internet growth has remained strong despite the global economic crisis -- and one of the fastest-growing areas is Eastern Europe and the countries of the former Soviet Union. That's according to a new report by the UN's trade body. More |
