 RFE/RL Headlines 3/22/2010 8:33:41 PM A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Features  Outcry In Kabul Over Afghans On Death Row In Iran Afghan lawmakers claim that some 3,000 Afghans await execution in neighboring Iran. The issue has led legislators to push for fair treatment of Afghan refugees convicted of crimes, while some authorities are calling for their timely return. More  Interview: The Life And Times Of An 'Afghan Gandhi' RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan welcomed lawmaker Ramazan Bashardost, winner of its "Person of the Year" award, into the studios of its Kabul bureau to learn more about his life and his views of the world. More  Forced Sterilization Scare Feeds On Uzbek Distrust It's still unclear whether Uzbek women are being duped into drastic measures to curb pregnancy, but the scandal underscores public distrust. More  EU Ministers Discuss Afghanistan, Neighborhood EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels have quizzed the bloc's high representative for foreign policy, Catherine Ashton, over progress in setting up an EU diplomatic service -- which has triggered a behind-the-scenes power struggle among member states and the European Commission. More  Clinton Says Iran Sanctions 'Will Bite' U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told an influential pro-Israel lobbying group in Washington that she's optimistic the UN Security Council will approve sanctions against Iran that will be strong enough to make it finally disclose the scope of its nuclear program. More  Rector's Slaying Sparks Quetta Protest Gunmen have shot dead the widely respected rector of a top private school in the Pakistani city of Quetta. More  EU Appeals For End To Iran Jamming EU foreign ministers have called on Iran to end its jamming of outside media and other censorship, but failed to agree on concrete measures. More  Afghan President Meets With Militants Afghan President Hamid Karzai has met with a senior delegation from the militant Hizb-e Islami, one of the groups that have been fighting against central government and NATO-led forces in Afghanistan. More  Moldova Coalition Ask Communist Help Moldova's ruling coalition has asked the opposition Communist Party to help it change the way the country's president is elected and end a political stalemate that has been dragging on for months. More  Uzbeks Cancel Norouz, Karimov No-Show Uzbek authorities have canceled state-sponsored Norouz celebrations for the first time since Uzbekistan gained independence. More  Top Tajik Islamic Body 'In Legal Limbo' Tajikistan's highest Islamic body says it has been left with no clear legal status because of a new law on religion. More  Inquiry Into 2008 Armenia Unrest Urged A key Council of Europe watchdog has called for a public inquiry into the 2008 postelection unrest in Yerevan and expressed concern about the reported ill-treatment of dozens of opposition members who were arrested in Armenia. More  Russian Singing Legend Tolkunova Dies One of Russia's most-popular singers, Valentina Tolkunova, has died of cancer in Moscow's Botkin Clinic. More Ramazan Bashardost, a lawmaker in the lower chamber of the Afghan national legislature, was chosen on the basis of nominations from Afghan civil organizations for his service to democracy while campaigning for the Afghan presidency last year. More  Is Anarchism Russia's Solution? A column by Russian TV journalist Andrei Loshak is making waves in Russia, with over 400,000 people having read it so far. More 'How Do I Celebrate The New Year Without You, Neda?' This video shows the mother of Neda Agha Soltan crying at her daughter's grave on March 18. More  Georgian Minister Rules Out Probe Into Incriminating Tapes More  Fundamentalist Calls To Ignore Norouz Go Unheard In Iran, Afghanistan This year's Norouz strangely united fundamentalist Iranian Shi'a and Afghan Sunnis in rejecting century-old national traditions. RFE/RL's Abbas Djavadi says it thus naturally united Iranians and Afghans -- regardless of their Islamic beliefs -- in defying those efforts. More |
