 RFE/RL Headlines 5/25/2010 7:03:36 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  Grandmaster Karpov Prepares Next Move In Bid For FIDE Presidency Chess grandmaster and former world champion Anatoly Karpov says he is Russia's candidate for the presidency of the World Chess Federation. But his rival, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, has the backing of a Kremlin aide. More  American Detainees' Mothers Ready To Return To Iran At A 'Moment's Notice' The mothers of the three American hikers detained in Iran on spying accusations tell RFE/RL that they are ready at a "moment's notice" to travel to Iran a second time to secure the release of their children. The three women returned on May 22 from Tehran, where they'd met with their children -- Shane Bauer, 27, Sarah Shourd, 31, and Josh Fattal, 27 -- for the first time since those three were sent to Tehran's notorious Evin prison. RFE/RL correspondent Nikola Krastev spoke to the mothers by telephone during their May 24 stopover in New York. More  Turkey's 'Ghandi' Takes The Reins, Promising To March To Power After years in the wilderness, Turkey's main opposition, the Republican People's Party, has a new leader. Nicknamed "Ghandi Kemal" for his peaceful demeanor, Kemal Kilicdaroglu has vowed to return the party to power. More  Interview: Anatoly Karpov On The Politics Of Chess Karpov, who has waged a highly public campaign in defense of his nomination, spoke to RFE/RL's Russian Service about his plans as he moves ahead with his campaign. More  History, BP Oil Spill Haunt Caspian Sea As BP struggles to contain the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, a wary eye is being cast on offshore drilling projects around the world, especially in the Caspian Sea, where observers warn of severe consequences if steps are not taken to improve environmental oversight. More  Despite Tightening Up Of Society, Iranian Art Sees A Boom For the last few years Iranian art has been going through what experts say is a "golden age." Largely attributed to the stabilization of the Dubai art market and strong ties between the United Arab Emirates and Iran, the boom is also being fueled by a younger generation of artists attempting to push the boundaries of freedom of expression. More  Afghan Peace Jirga Pushed Back Again Afghanistan has pushed back a national conference aimed at reaching a peace deal with militants who are willing to stop fighting. More  UN Envoy Warns Of Growing Tensions In Bosnia In a report presented to the UN Security Council, the international community's highest-ranking official in Bosnia warned that political conditions in the country remain under threat, and pointed to the leadership of the Serbian entity as seeking to weaken Bosnia's fragile political structures. More  16 Russians Die In Turkey Bus Crash Officials and news reports say a bus carrying Russian tourists has skidded off a highway in southern Turkey and fell off a bridge, killing 16 passengers and injuring 25. More  Noted Iranian Director Freed On Bail Renowned Iranian film director Jafar Panahi, who has been on hunger strike for more than a week, was reportedly released today on bail of about $200,000. More  'Sakharov Monument' Planned For Kirov The late rights campaigner Andrei Sakharov's widow, Yelena Bonner, had protested at the idea of a monument bearing her husband's name being erected in Russia under the present circumstances. So it will be called "The Monument to the Honest Man." More Protests in Angarsk have been going on for months and Irkutsk Governor Dmitry Mezentsev has promised to resolve problems connected with high utility tariffs and corruption. But protesters say he has not kept his promises. More  Kyrgyz Murder Suspects In Deadly Escape The Kyrgyz Interior Ministry has created a special investigative team to help locate three escaped suspects in the killings of a parliament member and two businessmen. More  Victims Decry 'Mild' Sentence In Armenian Child-Abuse Trial Armenian rights activists and abuse victims are unhappy with the light sentence given to a teacher convicted of child abuse. More  First-Family Handoff Of Kazakh Party Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev's nephew has been named the secretary of the country's main political party, Nur-Otan. More  Endangered Antelopes Dying In Kazakhstan About 2,000 saiga antelopes were found dead in the West Kazakhstan region's Zhanybek district last week. More  Armenian Investigators Point To Suicide In Police Custody Case An Armenian law-enforcement body investigating a suspicious death in police custody has largely endorsed police claims that the man committed suicide. More  Kazakh Supreme Court Upholds Verdict Against Journalist The Kazakh Supreme Court has ruled against an appeal by a journalist convicted of revealing state secrets. More  Uzbek-Tajik Rail Traffic Restricted Uzbekistan has suspended rail traffic to Tajikistan's southern Khatlon district, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports. More  Armenia Praises Karabakh Elections Armenia has hailed the parliamentary elections in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory as a sign of the breakaway Azerbaijani region's strengthening democracy. More  Russian Protesters Want Lake Baikal Protected Demonstrators gathered in the Siberian city of Irkutsk to call for the protection of Lake Baikal and the closure of a polluting paper mill. More  Belarusian Rights Movement Undaunted Despite Arrests A group of Belarusian rights activists say they will not be intimidated after raids by security forces last week resulted in the arrests of members of their movement. More  Russian Opposition Activists Ask Kremlin For Help Russian opposition leaders and human rights activists have called on President Dmitry Medvedev's chief of staff to intervene in their efforts to have their rallies approved by the authorities. More  More Signs Of Karimova's Fall From Grace? Is this another sign that Gulnara Karimova's empire is crumbling? More  The Rundown - May 25 A review of news and opinion on RFE/RL's broadcast region. More  Georgian Local Elections Focus Of Intense Scrutiny In the wake of two successive elections in 2008 that many opposition parties claim were rigged, the key issue is not so much one of policy, or even who will win most votes where, as of procedure: will President Mikheil Saakashvili's United National Movement use all the administrative resources at its disposal to preserve its hold on power, or it will it allow a vote that is truly free, fair, and democratic? More  Chechen Leader Challenges FSB Data On Insurgents Addressing a recent meeting of senior law enforcement officials, Ramzan Kadyrov questioned periodic estimates released by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) of the number of Islamic insurgents currently based in Chechnya, and that organization's criteria for determining who falls into that category. More  New Political Party Formed In South Ossetia The founding congress of a new political party named Iron (Ossetia) took place on May 22 in Tskhinvali, capital of the unrecognized breakaway republic of South Ossetia. More  New Ukrainian Foundation Puts People First A new home-grown nonpolitical foundation in Ukraine is seeking to build democracy through civic participation, broad-based dialogue, and the strengthening of national rather than regional identity. More |
