RFE/RL Headlines
11/23/2009 9:45:23 PM
A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty News
Russia Buries Outspoken Priest Killed In Church Mourners in Moscow have buried a Russian Orthodox priest shot dead by a masked gunman. Daniil Sysoyev had received death threats for converting Muslims and criticizing Islam. His death is drawing attention to fragile relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and other faiths in a country that has Europe's largest Muslim population. More
U.S. Speaker Says Afghan Leader 'Unworthy Partner' The speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives has called Afghan President Hamid Karzai an "unworthy partner" who does not deserve a big boost either in U.S. troops or civilian aid. Nancy Pelosi also said there was not strong support among her fellow Democrats in Congress for a big increase in troops to oppose the Taliban. More
From Our Bureaus
Fired Armenian Police Chief Charged With Physical Abuse
The recently fired police chief of Armenia's second city of Gyumri has been charged with abuse and mistreatment, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. More
Fired Armenian Police Chief Charged With Physical Abuse
The recently fired police chief of Armenia's second city of Gyumri has been charged with abuse and mistreatment, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. More
Russia Rights Council Says Jailed Lawyer Was 'Murdered' Ella Pamfilova, the chairwoman of the Russian president's Council for Promoting Civil and Human Rights, has said the death in custody last week of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky is a "murder and a tragedy," RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More
Armenian Court Allows Jailed Editor To Run For Parliament An Armenian administrative court has ordered police to issue jailed opposition leader and newspaper editor Nikol Pashinian with papers allowing him to run in an upcoming parliamentary by-election, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. More
Difficulties Reported At Latest Armenia-Azerbaijan Summit International mediators gave a mixed assessment of the Munich talks between the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, saying there was progress on some issues but a failure to agree on others, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. More
'Nuclear Assassination' Still Unsolved On the third anniversary of former Russian agent Aleksandr Litvinenko's poisoning from polonium-210, his widow tells RFE/RL she still hopes the suspects will be tried in London. Britain considers a Russian Duma deputy to be a prime suspect. More
Transmission
Putin In Da House
Big up to "Foreign Policy's" Passport for bringing this to our attention: Putin attending a rap battle. More
Putin In Da House
Big up to "Foreign Policy's" Passport for bringing this to our attention: Putin attending a rap battle. More
Persian Letters
'If You Want To Protest, Just Make Sure Your Mother Doesn't Find Out'
Blogger Baghe bi bargi (A garden without leaves) writes that her mother is worried for her safety because of her participation in protests against President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. More
'If You Want To Protest, Just Make Sure Your Mother Doesn't Find Out' Blogger Baghe bi bargi (A garden without leaves) writes that her mother is worried for her safety because of her participation in protests against President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. More
'I Consider Myself An Iranian Before A Kurd'
Blogger Nurafkan (Projector) reacts to the November 11 execution of Kurdish political activist Ehsan Fattahian, who had been accused by some of being a separatist. More
Blogger Nurafkan (Projector) reacts to the November 11 execution of Kurdish political activist Ehsan Fattahian, who had been accused by some of being a separatist. More
Features
The Music Stops On Turkey's Radioactive Waltz With Russia
Energy-hungry Turkey's nuclear flirtation with Russia came to a painful end last week when the government, under pressure from many fronts, canceled a tender that awarded the contract to build and operate the country's first nuclear power plant to a consortium led by Russia's Atomstroyexport. The move hints at a recognition that energy resources are more than simply commodities. More
The Music Stops On Turkey's Radioactive Waltz With Russia Energy-hungry Turkey's nuclear flirtation with Russia came to a painful end last week when the government, under pressure from many fronts, canceled a tender that awarded the contract to build and operate the country's first nuclear power plant to a consortium led by Russia's Atomstroyexport. The move hints at a recognition that energy resources are more than simply commodities. More
Twilight For The Aging Space Shuttle With just five space shuttle flights remaining, the program that has come to symbolize U.S. space superiority for the last 30 years is coming to an end, with no replacement on the near horizon. The Obama administration is considering whether it should go ahead with efforts to further explore the moon and Mars -- a plan initiated by the previous administration in 2005 -- or scale back and stay closer to Earth. More
Russia's Tabloid King Builds An Empire Tabloid journalism, with its screaming headlines, half-naked girls, and sensationalist news, has flourished in Russia for a number of years. But the king of the Russian tabloids, "Tvoi den" publisher Aram Gabrelyanov, is steadily building a media empire, and even offering a new school for budding muckrakers. More
Commentary
A Bird Over the Dnieper
It was Gogol I turned to in my search for an image of Ukraine. It is a tabula rasa; this is both an advantage and a weakness. More
A Bird Over the Dnieper It was Gogol I turned to in my search for an image of Ukraine. It is a tabula rasa; this is both an advantage and a weakness. More
