 RFE/RL Headlines 1/27/2010 A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| News  NATO Reaches Out To Ukraine, Russia Ukraine has become the first nonalliance contributor to the NATO Response Force. A gathering of top military commanders from NATO and partner states in Brussels also marked the revival of military links with Moscow for the first time since Russia's war with Georgia in August 2008. More  Bosnia Serb Government Rapped Over Referendum Push A move by the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina's Serbian entity to approve a draft law on referendums has drawn international criticism. More  Auschwitz Liberation Commemorated Holocaust survivors, Soviet veterans, and political leaders are gathering in Poland today to mark the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the largest Nazi death camp. More  Koreas Exchange Fire Near Sea Border The militaries of North Korea and South Korea exchanged artillery fire today along their disputed western sea border. Officials said the North fired artillery shots from land-based batteries towards the South, with the rounds landing north of the border. The South responded with warning fire from land-based coastal artillery. More  Uzbekistan Renames Soviet-Era Streets Authorities in the Uzbek capital have begun renaming some 150 streets and residential areas to deemphasize the city's Soviet heritage, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service reports. More  Russian Opposition To Fight Rally Ban The opposition Other Russia group is going to court in St. Petersburg to defend its right to hold a rally on January 31 in support of freedom of assembly, RFE/RL Russian Service reports. More  Tajik Religious Groups Declared Illegal Nine religious groups in Tajikistan failed to file documents for reregistration by the January 1 deadline and have been declared illegal, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports. More  Banned Turkmen Students To Attend U.S. University In Bulgaria Turkmen students banned from studying at universities abroad are being allowed by the government to resume their studies at the American University in Bulgaria (AUBG), RFE/RL's Turkmen Service reports. More  Ethnic Kazakh Writer In China Nominated For Kazakh Prize Kazakhstan's Institute for Cultural Politics and Culture Studies has nominated Qazhyghumar Shabdanuly, an ethnic Kazakh writer in China's Xinjiang Province, for a Kazakh state literature award, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports. More Georgian human rights activists held a rally today in Tbilisi to demand the release of political prisoners, RFE/RL's Georgian and Russian services report. More  Romanian President Visits Moldova Romanian President Traian Basescu is visiting Moldova for the first time since a pro-Western government came to power in Chisinau last year, RFE/RL's Moldovan Service reports. More  Suspect In Journalist's Killing Detained Kyrgyz Interior Minister Moldomusa Kongantiev has repeated a report that a suspect in the killing of independent Kyrgyz journalist Alisher Saipov was detained in Tajikistan, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports. More Bukharan Jews To Observe Tajik Elections Representatives of the Congress of Bukharan Jews of the United States and Canada will be observers at Tajikistan's upcoming parliamentary elections, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports. More  Kazakh Flash-Mob Participant Fined For Illegal Rally An Almaty court today ordered Rozlana Taukina, the head of the nongovernmental organization Journalists in Trouble, to pay a fine of some $500 for violating the law on holding rallies, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports. More  Russian Journalist Fined For 'Anti-Soviet' Web Article A Moscow court has partly met the plaintiff’s demands in a defamation suit against Russian journalist and human rights activist Aleksandr Podrabinek, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  'Most' Tajik Amnesties Result Of Bribes A Tajik official has claimed that many prisoners convicted of drug offenses paid bribes in order to be released in a recent amnesty, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports. More A deadly accident at a Soviet-era military base in central Kazakhstan has sparked concerns about people's exposure to toxic materials, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports. More  Media Watchdog Concerned By Uzbek Journalist's Arrest The media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says it is concerned about the arrest of prominent Uzbek journalist Khayrulla Khamidov, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service reports. More  Another Iranian Diplomat Steps Down Iranian opposition websites and blogs are reporting that a second Iranian diplomat has resigned to protest the postelection crackdown. More  Tihipko The Thinker Tihipko The Thinker More  Pakistani Hatchet Man Pakistan's influential "Dawn" newspaper confirms (and Reuters picks up) what we all have long suspected about President Asif Ali Zardari. Or at least what those who accused him of conspiracy to commit serial goat sacrifice have known: More We had a piece yesterday on the recent demolitions in the Moscow neighborhood of Rechnik, where residents have accused the city government of a "land grab" in order to clear prime real estate for lucrative development plans. More  Birth Of A Monarchy I was talking to some colleagues yesterday about RFE/RL’s recent interview with Kremlin-connected political consultant Gleb Pavlovsky. There are a lot of great tidbits in this interview and we’ve been talking about it a lot lately. More  Smear And Loathing In Tbilisi: Mudslinging Targets Rising Georgian Political Star Georgian media with ties to President Mikheil Saakashvili have launched a mudslinging campaign against opposition figure Irakli Alasania. The apparent reason: Alasania promises to be a strong candidate in Tbilisi’s mayoral elections this May, and is expected to use that post as a staging pad for a presidential bid. More  UN’s Role In Georgia Has ‘Fundamentally Changed’ Johan Verbeke is the former head of the now-defunct UN observer mission in Georgia and was the UN’s special representative at the Geneva talks initiated after the August 2008 Russia-Georgia war. Verbeke has since been named Belgium’s ambassador to the U.K. On the eve of a fresh round of talks in Geneva on January 28, Verbeke spoke to RFE/RL correspondent Olesya Vartanyan about the possibility of restoring observer missions in Georgia and the continued challenges regarding Russia, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia. More  Interview: Radicals Will Continue To Influence Serbian Orthodox Church The unexpected election of moderate Bishop Irinej Gavrilovic of Nis as the new patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church does not mean the influence of more radical priests, like Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro, will subside. That's according to Milorad Tomanic, a Belgrade-based expert on the Orthodox Church and author of a recently published book, "The Serbian Church In the War, and The Wars Within It." RFE/RL's Podgorica correspondent, Dimitrije Jovicevic, spoke to Tomanic about the future role of the church in Serbia. More  Tajikistan As A Model For Afghan Peacemaking A little over a decade ago, Afghanistan's northern neighbor succeeded in ending its bloody civil war, which pitted Islamists against the central government. While the country remains poor and faces numerous problems, it has forged lasting peace. Could it offer some useful lessons for Afghanistan? More  Extremism Report, Belarusian Relations, Protocol 14 Ratification More |
