RFE/RL Headlines
12/30/2009 6:26:20 PM
A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty News
Iran's Police Chief Warns Opposition Iran's police chief today warned supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Musavi only to expect harsh treatment if they participate in illegal rallies, three days after eight protesters were killed in protests. More
Strike Call After Bomb Rattles Karachi Pakistani religious and political leaders called for a strike for January 1 to condemn a bombing that killed 43 people, triggered riots, and prompted some people to blame their government for violence gripping the country. More
Obama Vows To Fix 'Systemic' Failures In Security U.S. President Barack Obama has acknowledged a "catastrophic breach of security" in the attempted bombing of a U.S. airliner over Christmas and promised a thorough review. More
From Our Bureaus
Yerevan Downplays Economic Crisis
Armenian Finance Minister Tigran Davtian today insisted that Armenia is emerging from its worst economic recession with minimal losses, and he downplayed the sharp decline in Gross Domestic Product registered this year, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. More
Yerevan Downplays Economic Crisis Armenian Finance Minister Tigran Davtian today insisted that Armenia is emerging from its worst economic recession with minimal losses, and he downplayed the sharp decline in Gross Domestic Product registered this year, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. More
Snow Causes Power Outages In Ukraine Several hundred towns and villages in Ukraine are without electricity due to heavy snowfall, RFE/RL's Ukrainian and Russian services report. More
Belarusian Activist Faces Fine For Defacing Lenin Statue Prosecutors today demanded that Yury Kazak, an active member of the unregistered Belarusian Christian Democracy, pay a fine equal to $2,700 for defacing a statue of Lenin, RFE/RL's Belarus Service reports. More
Armenian Officials Held For 'Bribery' The Armenian police have announced the arrest on bribery charges of two high-ranking officials from the Environment Ministry, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. More
Jailed Azeri Journalist 'Found With Drugs' Jailed Azerbaijani journalist Eynulla Fatullayev may face a new drug-related charge, which could extend his 8 1/2 year sentence he is currently serving, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports. More
Land Mine Kills Two On Uzbek Border Two Tajik citizens died near the Uzbek-Tajik border after stepping on a land mine last week, RFE/RL's Uzbek and Tajik services report. More
Reports: Water Tied To Kyrgyz-Uzbek Deal Analysts say that agreements on water resources were also part of the new gas deal agreed to between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan for lower energy prices next year, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service reports. More
Moldova's Voronin Out Of PACE Group Moldova's opposition Communist Party says it will boycott two structures that are working toward the country's European integration in protest of what the Communists perceive as unfair treatment of their leader, former President Vladimir Voronin, RFE/RL's Moldova Service reports. More
Kazakh Banker Calls Charges 'Absurd' The former head of Kazakhstan's BTA bank said from exile that he will try to draw the international community's attention to the case of 12 bankers and businesspeople sentenced recently to long prison terms, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports. More
Ossetian Court Sentences Georgian Spy
The Supreme Court in the Russian republic of North Ossetia has sentenced a man for being a Georgian spy, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More
The Supreme Court in the Russian republic of North Ossetia has sentenced a man for being a Georgian spy, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More
Turkmen Leader Marks Revival Of Film Industry The Watan movie theater has reopened in downtown Ashgabat. The previous government's isolationist policy had left Turkmen movies out of foreign film festivals. More
Watchdog
Iran Election One Of 2009's Most Dangerous Stories For Reporters
An international media rights group has described Iran's disputed presidential election as one of the most dangerous stories for journalists to cover in 2009. More
Iran Election One Of 2009's Most Dangerous Stories For Reporters An international media rights group has described Iran's disputed presidential election as one of the most dangerous stories for journalists to cover in 2009. More
Transmission
The Year In Search Terms
The readers have spoken. Here is your ranking for the top stories of 2009. More
The Year In Search Terms The readers have spoken. Here is your ranking for the top stories of 2009. More
North Magnetic Pole Moving Toward Russia For years, Russian diplomats have insisted the globe is no longer unipolar, as they seek to downplay the global influence of the United States. More
More Videos From Iran's Ashura Protest
Two more significant videos which have emerged from Iran's Ashura demonstrations on December 27. More
Two more significant videos which have emerged from Iran's Ashura demonstrations on December 27. More
The Rundown - December 30 A comprehensive review of news and opinion on RFE/RL's broadcast region More
Features
Link To Iran Spoils Kazatomprom Party
Kazakhstan has taken on a new role as the world in uranium production. But the achievement has been tainted by news that rogue elements within the state nuclear company are working out an illegal deal to supply Iran with a large amount of purified uranium ore. More
Link To Iran Spoils Kazatomprom Party Kazakhstan has taken on a new role as the world in uranium production. But the achievement has been tainted by news that rogue elements within the state nuclear company are working out an illegal deal to supply Iran with a large amount of purified uranium ore. More
2009: A Roller-Coaster Year For The Dollar It's been a roller-coaster year for the dollar. The onset of the global financial crisis initially benefited the dollar, as investors fled riskier markets for the relative safety of the U.S. currency. As economies showed the first signs of recovery, however, investors reverted to shunning the dollar in favor of investments that promised higher returns. More
Iran Rejects Report Of Secret Uranium Deal Iran has described as "baseless" a report that it is seeking to clandestinely import 1,350 tons of purified uranium ore from Kazakhstan. More
