 RFE/RL Headlines 11/3/2009 7:03:12 PM A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| News  Czech President Reluctantly Signs EU Reform Treaty Czech President Vaclav Klaus has become the final European Union leader to sign the bloc's Lisbon Treaty. Klaus's long-awaited move completes the ratification process of a charter aimed at streamlining the EU's decision making and giving it greater clout in global affairs. More  Clinton Unveils Programs To Strengthen U.S.-Muslim Ties U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has unveiled the Obama administration's plans to bring the United States and the Muslim world closer together through a number of economic and social programs designed to spur development among the participants. More  Iraq Needs Foreign Help To Overcome School Shortage Iraqi Education Minister Kudair al-Khuzai says the country needs international help to build and renovate thousands of schools to avert a shortage, RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq reports. More  Azerbaijani Mosques Told To Turn Down Call To Prayer Some mosques in the Azerbaijani cities of Baku and Ganca have lowered the volume of their morning call to prayer as of November 1, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports. More  Witnesses Testify In Support Of Former Kyrgyz Minister The chief of Kyrgyzstan's military medical service has testified in support of former Defense Minister Ismail Isakov at his trial in Bishkek, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports. More  Swine Flu Mania In Ukraine Upon landing at Kyiv’s Boryspil airport on Sunday afternoon I was met by Ukrainian passport-control personnel in surgical masks. More An old video of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei visiting some of the U.S. diplomats detained in Iran some 30 years ago has been posted on his website ahead of the anniversary of the U.S. embassy takeover and the hostage taking of U.S. diplomats and embassy staff. More  Campaign To Discredit Exiled Chechen Leader Intensifies Over the past year, Chechen Republic head Ramzan Kadyrov has repeatedly said he would welcome the return to Chechnya from London of Akhmed Zakayev, who heads the Chechen Republic Ichkeria (CHRI) leadership in exile. But last week, Kadyrov abruptly changed tack, branding Zakayev a liar and a hypocrite and accusing him of misrepresenting the present situation in Chechnya. More  'So Many Shared Interests' Thirty years ago, a group of students stormed into the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took more than 50 U.S. diplomats and staff hostage, holding them for 444 days. Bruce Laingen was among them. But despite his painful experience, he says that the U.S. and Iran should find a basis for a new relationship. More  In Second Term, Karzai Faces Immense Task President Hamid Karzai has vowed to form a government that will include all Afghans. But to form a workable government -- one that can deliver security and economic prosperity to Afghans, reconciliation with the Taliban insurgency, and a recalibration of the country's rocky relationship with the international community -- Karzai will have to overcome immense obstacles. More  The Not-So-Special Relationship Climate change, energy cooperation, and a raft of topical international issues will dominate the first formal U.S.-EU summit since President Barack Obama took office. But officials in Brussels are downplaying the chances of any breakthroughs coming out of the meeting. Coupled with the EU pessimism, is the prevailing sense that, contrary to early expectations, the EU-U.S. relationship has failed to take off since President George W. Bush stepped down. More  Survey Finds Generational Split In View Of Reforms Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, people in countries that were once behind the Iron Curtain have mixed feelings about the changes democracy and capitalism have brought to their lives. A new survey finds general satisfaction but also disappointment. More  Karzai's Victory And The Opportunities Lost What has transpired in Afghanistan begs a key question. In a situation where popular support for the war and reconstruction aid is already dwindling in most NATO member states, can support for the "necessary evil" of Hamid Karzai be maintained when the lives of NATO soldiers are at stake, and given the huge financial cost? More  Looking For A Monster, Finding Only A Man Gordana Knezevic, director of RFE/RL's Balkan Service, was a journalist in Sarajevo during the bloody 43-month siege of the city. She remembers life during the war and her struggle to understand the motivations fueling Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. More |
