 RFE/RL Headlines 11/25/2009 7:43:20 PM A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| News  UN Climate Chief Calls For 'Compromise' As Summit Nears Eleven days ahead of the critical Copenhagen conference on climate change, the top United Nations climate-change official, Yvo de Boer, called for "cooperation and compromise." More  Iran's President Gets Face Time With Chavez Iran's President Mahmud Ahmadinejad is in Venezuela for talks with President Hugo Chavez, another outspoken anti-American leader, on the final stop on his Latin America tour. After red-carpet receptions in Brazil and Bolivia, the Venezuela visit provoked more vociferous domestic opposition. More  Hajj Kicks Off The hajj, one of the Five Pillars of Islam, begins today. An estimated 2.5 million Muslims are expected to participate, down by around half a million due to concerns about swine flu. More  Tito's Grandson Elected Head Of Serbia's Communist Party Josko Broz, a grandson of late Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito, has been elected as president of a newly formed Communist Party of Serbia, RFE/RL's Balkan Service reports. More  'The Tragic Destiny Of Kazakh People Living Abroad' Eighty-five-year-old Qazhyghumar Shabdanuly of Kazakhstan has spent more than 40 years in Chinese jails for his political views and is currently under house arrest in Xinjiang. Six novels that he's written have just been published in Almaty. More  Armenian President Sends Turkey Accords To Top Court Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian has formally asked the Constitutional Court to certify the legality of his normalization agreements with Turkey, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. More  Armenia Seeks Donors For Next Census Armenian officials say they will need foreign money in order to fund the next census as required by law, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. More  Iraq To Appeal World Soccer Ban Iraqi officials say they were not surprised that soccer's world governing body suspended the country from international competition and are working on an appeal, RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq (RFI) reports. More  Solidarity, Oil, Human Rights, And Azerbaijan Azerbaijan has the highest number of imprisoned journalists among all of the 56 member states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Thirty-four members of the nongovernmental organization Human Rights House Network, based in Oslo, sent a letter of concern to the authorities in Baku, condemning the deterioration of freedom of expression in Azerbaijan. RFE/RL correspondent Anna Zamejc spoke with Ane Tusvik Bonde, regional manager for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus at the Human Rights House Foundation about the situation in Azerbaijan. More  Was Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mother Azeri? A few years ago Leonardo Da Vinci researchers presented a theory claiming that the Renaissance artist’s mother, Caterina, had not actually been a local peasant as had previously been believed. More  Who Killed Neda? (Revisited) The commander of Iran’s Basij has said that Neda Agha Soltan, who after her death became the symbol of Iran’s Green movement, was killed by someone from the United States. More  'Sick Of The U.S., Send Me Back To Uzbekistan' Ruslan Sharipov, a U.S.-based Uzbek dissident and the only openly gay Uzbek journalist, says he is “disappointed with American democracy” and wants to return home. More  Strange Bedfellows As allegations of churlishness continue to ooze out about Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a newly minted book by a call girl who claims to have bedded down with him offers a reminder of the tight relationship he has with Russia's top dawg. More  A Hajj At Home As Muslims around the world prepare for this year's hajj, those from Turkmenistan won't be among them. Fears of swine flu have led the Turkmen government to ban citizens from making the trip to Mecca. Instead, a delegation of officials and elders has embarked on a first-ever official pilgrimage to 38 "holy" sites within Turkmenistan itself. More  UN Says Violence Against Women 'Pervasive' Violation Today marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women -- a reminder of a problem that the UN says has reached pandemic proportions. Women from across RFE/RL’s broadcast region have shared some of their own harrowing stories of abuse, and in some cases, of escape and recovery. More |
