 RFE/RL Headlines 12/15/2009 8:59:41 PM A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| News  Climate Talks Run Into Trouble In Copenhagen Divisions between developed and developing countries are threatening to derail climate talks in Copenhagen. At times the divisions appear eerily reminiscent of the Cold War, with Russia and China championing the developing world's demands that the world's richest countries shoulder the heaviest burden for reducing emissions. More  Clinton Touts 'Principled Pragmatism' On Human Rights U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today that the administration of President Barack Obama will continue to pursue the American goal of universal human rights through what she called "principled pragmatism." In a speech on human rights in the 21st century, Clinton said the United States' goal is to make human rights a human reality. More  NATO Chief Heading To Moscow Paying his first visit to Russia as NATO chief, Anders Fogh Rasmussen will try to secure greater Russian support for U.S.-led efforts in Afghanistan and repair ties frayed by the 2008 war in Georgia. More  Guantanamo Inmates Bound For Illinois The Obama administration will announce plans later today to acquire an Illinois prison and to send a limited number of detainees there from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, a U.S. official said. More  At Least Eight Killed In Kabul In Suicide Car Blast A suicide car bomber today killed at least eight people and injured 40 in central Kabul. More More Moldovan Communists Quit Party Four Moldovan deputies officially announced today they are leaving the Communist Party's parliamentary group to form an independent parliamentary bloc, RFE/RL's Moldovan Service reports. More Georgian teachers unions held a protest in front of the parliament building in Tbilisi today, RFE/RL's Georgian Service reports. More  Tatar Professor: Criticism Of President Led To Firing A Tatar university professor says his contract was not extended due to his criticism of the republic's president, RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service reports. More  Serbia's Vojvodina Regains Autonomy The assembly of Serbia's northern province of Vojvodina has adopted a statute that will give it back some of the autonomy from Belgrade that it lost nearly two decades ago, RFE/RL's Balkan Service reports. More  Pamphlet Critical Of St. Petersburg's Governor Confiscated Unknown people have confiscated thousands of pamphlets from Russian opposition activists in St. Petersburg, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Uzbek Group Protests Jailed Sisters' Rape An Uzbek human rights organization is calling for justice after reports of two sisters being gang-raped in jail in Tashkent, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service reports. More A European Parliament working group discussed a draft resolution today on the deteriorating situation regarding freedom of expression in Azerbaijan, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports. More  Soviet-Era Dissident Seeks Georgian Citizenship Soviet-era dissident Aleksandr Bondarev, who left the USSR 30 years ago for France, wants to become a Georgian citizen, RFE/RL's Ekho Kavkaza (Echo of the Caucasus) reports. More  Europe's Muslims Face 'Alarming' Bias The Open Society Institute, a private foundation set up by financier George Soros, said many Muslims experienced discrimination as well as social and economic disadvantages. More  Suspects In Reporter Death 'Illegally Freed' Melis Tashiev says two policemen suspected of killing his brother, independent journalist Almaz Tashiev, in Kyrgyzstan's southern city of Osh have been illegally released, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports. More  Tajiks Uncover Massive Breakout Plot Tajikistan's prosecutor-general told RFE/RL that an investigation by the National Security Committee has shown that Emergency Situations Minister Mirzo Ziyoev Ziyoev and 49 others were plotting an armed operation to release some of their supporters from jail. More  Nauruans Discover The Caucasus Maybe Moscow's trying to finance its own "color revolution" in Micronesia. More Despite the Russian government's untiring efforts to control political and social discussion in Russia, some brave and witty activists continue trying to engage an apathetic public. More  The Real Police Reform Although the topic of police reform in Russia never seems to go away, it has been in the spotlight for some weeks now, at least since the sensational videos posted by former police Major Aleksei Dymovsky with allegations of massive police corruption in Novorossiisk. United Russia Duma Deputy Aleksei Makarov even proposed “abolishing” the police force and starting over – “with help from civil society and human rights groups” (too bad they have all been neutered). More  They Show No Mercy, Even To Their Own Blogger Zeitun (Olive) writes about the fate of a supporter of Mahmud Ahmadinejad who she says was jailed and tortured after he unintentionally held a picture of the Iranian president upside-down. More Blogger Zahra writes about an instance of the family pressure on Iranian girls and women to get married. More  Plan To Unite Russia's Muslim Hierarchies Collapses While some circles in Moscow had initially backed proposals to unite Russia's Muslim spiritual directorates (DUMs) under a single mufti, others apparently realized just how dangerous combining these institutions might prove to be. More  Spirit Of Dayton Accord Eludes Bosnia Fourteen years after the signing of the Dayton accords ending the Bosnian war, peace in the multiethnic country remains fragile. Now, Milorad Dodik, the leader of Bosnia's Serbian entity, is threatening to hold two referendums he says will put Bosnia's loyalty to the international community to the test. More  Khomeini Portrait Scandal Fuels Postelection Fire Scenes on state television of a defaced portrait of the founder of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, have sparked uproar in Iran. The current supreme leader, government officials, and conservative clerics blame the opposition, which counters that the whole thing was staged to allow for a tougher crackdown. More  Ferrero-Waldner: For EU's East, Generations To Change Benita Ferrero-Waldner served five years as the EU's external relations commissioner before making way on December 1 for the bloc's new high representative for foreign policy, Catherine Ashton. In an interview with RFE/RL, Ferrero-Waldner cautions the bloc's Eastern neighbors to accept the fact that the reforms needed to make them ready for the EU could take "generations." More  Weak Afghan Courts Strengthen Taliban Efforts to improve Afghanistan's dysfunctional judicial system have been plagued by inefficiency, bribery, and nepotism. Reform efforts appear to be failing to the point that many Afghans are turning to another power for justice -- the Taliban. More  Jaruzelski Again Denies Seeking Soviet Aid Against Solidarity A document recently appeared in Poland seeming to suggest that in December 1981 Polish leader Wojciech Jaruzelski. requested Soviet military aid, which he has always denied. He discusses the allegations with RFE/RL's Russian Service. More  In Mongolia, Waiting For The Trickle-Down When boom turned to bust in one Mongolian town, residents turned to the land in search of their piece of the country's billion-dollar mineral wealth. More  Iran Is Likely To See A Harsher Crackdown In the short term, an even harsher crackdown is foreseeable if the opposition presses ahead with the planned demonstrations for the month of Muharram -- and many bet they will. More  Chess, Poker, And Kickboxing In Moldovan Politics There is a complex game playing out in Chisinau, combining elements of three-dimensional chess, no-limits poker, and bare-knuckled kickboxing. More |
