 RFE/RL Headlines 3/16/2010 9:00:15 PM A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Features  Hopes Raised Anew About Future Of Nabucco Gas Pipeline Project The EU-backed Nabucco natural gas pipeline has experienced a roller-coaster ride in recent years. At times it appeared the project was close to being scrapped, but shareholders have steadfastly maintained Nabucco is a viable way to deliver non-Russian natural gas to Europe. Several events at the start of this month have again raised hopes about the project. More  Petraeus: Hard Year Ahead In Afghanistan The head of the U.S. Central Command, General David Petraeus, said today that the war in Afghanistan will "likely get harder before it gets easier." More  Tehran Remains Quiet As Police Patrol Festivities Iranian police are deploying in high numbers on the streets of Tehran today to counter possible opposition protests during a national festival. More  Kabul Says No Direct Talks With Taliban Afghanistan's government today denied reports that it held secret, direct peace talks with the Taliban's No. 2 leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, just before he was arrested in Pakistan. More Eight people have died in two bombings five minutes apart on the main street of an Iraqi town south of Baghdad, nine days after an election Iraqis hoped would bring more stability and less sectarian conflict. More  Sochi Olympic Project Hits Labor, Environmental Snags The UN is expected to issue a report charging that Moscow has ignored environmental concerns as it prepares to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. At the same time, the project has been rocked by complaints that workers are not being paid regularly and are being forced to live in unsanitary conditions. More  Pakistan Postpones National Games Pakistan's annual National Games, scheduled to be held in Peshawar this month, have been postponed because of security concerns, the country's National Olympic Committee has said. More  Guardians Council Approves Iran Budget Iran's Guardians Council has approved the government's budget for next year, news agencies said, the last hurdle for spending plans which include cuts in state subsidies. More  Eurozone Lays Basis For Financial Lifeline To Greece Finance ministers of the countries sharing the common euro currency have agreed the outlines of a plan to rescue Greece if that country looks likely to default on its massive debts. More  Iran Praises Iraq Vote; Shi'ite Ally Leads Iran has congratulated Iraqis over an election that is likely to keep a bloc led by its Shi'ite ally, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, in power after a campaign in which Tehran's influence was a divisive issue. More A U.S. drone aircraft has fired missiles into Pakistan's North Waziristan region, killing 10 militants, the latest such strike on a major Al-Qaeda and Taliban sanctuary, officials and residents said. More  Palestinian Unrest Amid U.S.-Israel Row Palestinians clash with police in east Jerusalem amid increased tension over settlement building and the rededication of a synagogue. More  U.S. Awaits Israel Response On Housing The United States says it is still waiting for a "formal" response from Israel to U.S. concerns over the Israeli announcement that it will build hundreds of new homes for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem. More  Venezuela To Sell Heavy Crude To Belarus President Hugo Chavez called the agreement an important step in strengthening ties with the government of visiting Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka. More  Russian Patriarch Visits Armenia The two-day visit is expected to include talks on a plan of cooperation between the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church. More  Security Nixes Pakistan Davis Cup Plan The International Tennis Federation has decided to move Pakistan's next Davis Cup match to New Zealand because of security concerns. More  Armenian Party Head Won't Campaign Orinats Yerkir party leader Artur Baghdasarian today said that he will not contest the Armenian presidential election in 2013, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. More  Armenian Politician Slams Minister For Rosy Economic Prediction The leader of the second-largest party in Armenia's ruling coalition has lambasted a government minister who recently said the economic crisis in the country is over, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. More  Former Chief Of Yukos Branch Jailed The former director of a branch of the Russian energy giant Yukos has been sentenced to 12 years in jail for embezzlement, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More Two police officers in the central Russian city of Kurgan have each been sentenced to four years in jail for beating a local resident, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Kyrgyz Editors Summoned For Questioning The chief editors of the Kyrgyz newspapers "Achyk Sayasat" (Open Politics) and "Nazar" (Attention) were questioned today by officials of the Prosecutor-General's Office about certain articles in their publications, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports. More  Tajik President Rejects Criticism Of Vote Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has rejected criticism of last month's parliamentary elections, describing them as democratic and transparent, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports. More  Freedom House Calls On Kyrgyzstan To Loosen Media Controls Freedom House says a decision by Kyrgyz authorities last week to block broadcasting and Internet access to U.S. government-funded news services underscores a "growing concern for freedom of expression in Kyrgyzstan." More  Russian Investigators Say Orthodox Priest's Murder Solved Russian investigators say they have solved the murder last year of an Orthodox priest, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Bosnian PM Criticizes Talk Of Serb Pullout From State Posts Bosnian Prime Minister Nikola Spiric, an ethnic Serb, today dismissed as "politically dangerous" any speculation about a possible move by Bosnia's Serb entity to call on Bosnian Serbs to withdraw from state government structures, RFE/RL's Balkan Service reports. More  Chornobyl Vets Seek To Sue Medvedev A group of veterans of the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear disaster filed a compensation lawsuit today against Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Crimean Tatars Seek Criminal Case Against Ukrainian Minister Crimean Tatars have protested what they say are inflammatory comments by new Ukrainian Interior Minister Anatoliy Mogilev, RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service reports. More  Iranian Activist Sentenced To 3-Year Term A Tehran revolutionary court has sentenced political activist Azar Mansouri to three years in prison, her lawyer told RFE/RL's Radio Farda. More  Russian Officer Sentenced For Corruption A military court in the western Russian city of Penza today sentenced a former army colonel to four years in jail for taking bribes from potential conscripts, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Former Kyrgyz FM Sentenced A Bishkek court has found former Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Alikbek Jekshenkulov guilty of financial abuse and sentenced him to a suspended term of five years in jail. More  Kazakh Oil Director Fired Amid Strike The director of the Ozenmunaygaz energy company was fired today amid a strike by thousands of oil workers in southwestern Kazakhstan. More  Kyrgyz Court Bans Opposition March A Bishkek district court today banned an opposition march scheduled for March 17 in the Kyrgyz capital, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports. More  Kaliningrad Communists Quit Alliance Igor Revin, the Communist Party's branch leader in the western exclave, said the party is quitting because the opposition coalition canceled a mass protest scheduled for March 20. The Communists say that by calling off the protest the opposition has "cheated thousands of its supporters." More  Kyrgyz Journalist, Opposition Activists Beaten An independent journalist and two activists of the opposition Ata-Meken (Fatherland) party have been beaten in southern Kyrgyzstan. More The editor of an independent Kyrgyz newspaper says Bishkek police confiscated its latest issue on March 15. More  Spare Us, Taliban Brothers! The chief minister of Pakistan's Punjab Province, Shahbaz Sharif, is under fire for asking the Taliban not to attack his home province in retribution for counterinsurgent operations. More  Party Newcomers Take Cabinet Posts In Armenia Armenia's Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law) party has named two men to government ministry portfolios -- even though neither had any link to the party until now. More  Chinese 'Patriotic' Underwear A Hit In Kazakhstan They may not be as outrageous as the lime-green mankini worn by Borat, yet a new line of Chinese-made men’s underwear is proving to be a hit in Kazakhstan, while infuriating many others. More  Baidu Share Price Eclipses Google's For The First Time On Monday, for the first time, the share price of the Chinese search engine Baidu eclipsed the share price of its competitor, the Internet behemoth Google. More  Another Look At Kaliningrad Gazeta.ru today published a nice little analysis of the problems of small and medium-size business owners in Kaliningrad. The goal of the piece is to lay out the real reasons for the large demonstration that took place in the exclave in December and which many took as a sign that the endless patience of the Russian people was nearing its end. More  Year Of 'Patience And Perseverance' Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Musavi has said that the coming new year in Iran will be the year of "patience and perseverance" for the opposition movement. More "Slowly [the authorities] will ask us not to breath, because they will say antirevolutionary air might get into your lungs." This is a quote from one of our listeners with whom I have been exchanging e-mails for the past several months. She is a young Iranian woman in the capital. More  Medvedev Names New Ingushetian Interior Minister Russian President Dmitry Medvedev today dismissed Ingushetia's acting interior minister, Colonel Viktor Zhirnov, thereby calling into question Ingushetian President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov's assertion in an interview earlier this year that the work of the police is improving, and popular trust in them is growing. More |
