 RFE/RL Headlines 5/24/2010 8:38:27 PM A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty RFE/RL is looking for guest bloggers, preferably writing from and about our broadcast region. If you're interested, drop us a line at webteam@rferl.org. |
| Features  Ahead Of Election Anniversary, Iranian Government Tightens Its Grip Iran's opposition has called for peaceful demonstrations to mark the upcoming anniversary of last year's disputed reelection of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. But a redoubled crackdown has created an atmosphere of widespread intimidation and dampened hopes of an opposition show of strength. More  Basketball Exchange Shows Lighter Side Of U.S.-Russia Relations A group of young Russians are in Washington to pick up some basketball tips and learn more about the country in the process -- the first exchange under a new program meant to improve U.S.-Russian cooperation after years of frosty relations. More  Brodsky on Donne: 'The Poet Is Engaged In The Translation Of One Thing Into Another' Today marks the 70th anniversary of the birth in Leningrad of poet Joseph Brodsky. In 1981, I interviewed Brodsky in London on the occasion of another anniversary -- 350 years since the death of poet John Donne. More  Joseph Brodsky, Remembered This week marks the 70th anniversary of the birth of the Russian writer and Nobel laureate Joseph Brodsky. More  As An Afghan River Border Shifts, Murder Follows The Amu Darya, Central Asia's longest river, demarcates much of northern Afghanistan's border. But it is an unstable frontier that shifts as the river changes course, causing deadly land disputes. More  Young Writers Pick Up Mantle Of Russia's Rich Literary Tradition Four young Russian writers have just concluded a reading tour in the United States organized by the PEN international literary organization. They have lots to say about what it means to write in 21st-century Russia. More  Interview: Administrator Says 'Draw Muhammad Day' Facebook Group 'Decided To Draw The Line' An administrator of the Facebook group "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day" spoke with RFE/RL about the online campaign, in which users were asked to submit cartoons of Prophet Muhammad. Speaking from Germany, 28-year-old Andy Freiheit, a German citizen using a pseudonym for safety reasons, discusses freedom of the press, religious sensitivity, and the global attention given to the Facebook campaign. The interview was conducted by RFE/RL Central Newsroom correspondent Kristin Deasy and RFE/RL Radio Mashaal correspondent Maliha Amirzada. More  As U.S. Says 'Do More,' Pakistan Highlights Its Own Limitations Following a visit by senior U.S. security officials this week, Pakistani analysts are calling for Washington, when pressing for action, to exhibit a better understanding of Islamabad's limitations in its complicated struggle against extremism. More  Black Hole: Russian Mining Tragedy Stirs Old Questions Of Class, Privilege More than a week after explosions left 90 people dead at Russia's Raspadskaya coal mine, the accident -- and the too-little-too-late government reaction that followed -- is stirring class resentment. That, in turn, is spooking the authorities, who fear the specter of politicized miners. More  EU, Eastern Neighbors Meet Before Russia Summit Ahead of a milestone EU-Russia summit next week, leading diplomats from the 27 EU governments met their counterparts from the six members of the bloc's Eastern Partnership -- Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan -- in what was meant by its Polish hosts as a show of support. More  Siberian Miner's Widow Alleges Widespread Extortion Over Compensation The widow of one of the miners killed in the recent Raspadskaya coal mine explosion in Siberia says the families of the dead or injured are being extorted by organized crime groups. More  What Prisoners Would Iran Want To Swap? After the mothers of three American hikers detained in Iran failed last week to secure their children's release on humanitarian grounds, a key Iranian official has said there can be no doubt that the three are "spies" and has called on Washington to propose a prisoner swap. More  Khodorkovsky Arrest Was 'Political' Russia's former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov has said in a Moscow court that the Kremlin ordered the arrest of Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky because he had angered the President Vladimir Putin by funding opposition parties. More  Iranian NGO Criticizes Alleged Rights Abuses One of Iran's leading human rights organizations has issued a report criticizing the country's treatment of opposition activists. More  Georgian Flights To Moscow Resume Georgian Airways resumed charter flights today between Tbilisi and Moscow. More  Kyrgyz Demand Greater Transparency About 100 protesters picketed the Kyrgyz parliament building in Bishkek today, demanding a detailed report on the interim government's activities for the last 45 days. More  Activists Protest Moscow Construction Some 50 opponents of a controversial development plan in a historic part of Moscow blocked the road leading to the construction site today, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Moldovan PM 'Confused' By Putin Comment On Instability Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat says he is confused by his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin's remarks about political instability in Moldova. More  Iranian Filmmaker 'Beaten In Prison' Prominent Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Noorizad has been beaten in prison while on a hunger strike. More  Armenia Raps EU Over Karabakh Resolution Armenia has criticized the European Parliament for demanding the "withdrawal of Armenian forces from all occupied territories of Azerbaijan" in its latest resolution on the South Caucasus. More  Guest Blogger: Who’s The Big Bad Wolf Of Ukraine's Media Landscape? Media specialists in Ukraine expressed concern, within weeks of President Viktor Yanukovych’s inauguration in late February, over measures increasing government influence over the media. These included subordinating the National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council (NTVBC) to the Cabinet of Ministers and the appointment of the former director of one of the most pro-regime channels as head of the state-owned National Television Company. More  'Maksim' And His Kyrgyz Dreams A voice recording of an alleged phone conversation between Maksim and Janysh Bakiev -- ousted Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev's son and brother, respectively -- is circulating on the Internet. More  Is Hijab Crackdown To Divert Attention From Election Anniversary? Iran has launched a new drive to enforce the obligatory Islamic hijab. Hijab and women who are considered as being badly or improperly veiled and their alleged threat to society is again among the main themes of speeches and comments by Friday Prayer leaders and other state officials. More  'Unemployment! Unemployment!' In a speech by Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad in Khoramshahr today, he said that the government would root out unemployment from Khuzestan Province. More The reformist "Parlemannews" website has posted several pictures of Iranian opposition leaders Mir Hossein Musavi, Mehdi Karrubi, and former President Mohammad Khatami at last week's wedding of the son of the head of the reformist Mosharekat party, Mohsen Mirdamadi, who was jailed in the postelection crackdown. More  U.S. Congressmen Press Clinton On Iran Rights Issue A group of U.S. congressmen has written a letter urging Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to "prioritize human rights as part of the US policy toward Iran" amid that country's crackdown on postelection dissent. More |
