 RFE/RL Headlines 5/27/2010 6:24:34 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. |
| News  Obama To Keep Drilling Moratorium Media reports say U.S. President Barack Obama will announce a six-month extension on a deepwater oil drilling moratorium on May 27 while a special commission studies the reasons for the Gulf of Mexico spill. More  U.S. National Security's New Tone The White House is issuing President Barack Obama's National Security Strategy, a document in which the president sets out his priorities for keeping the nation safe in today's world. More  Watchdog Amnesty Harsh On 2009 Watchdog Amnesty International has warned that human rights abuses continued to plague the world in 2009, with torture or ill treatment, unfair trials and imprisonment, and restrictions on free speech among the most common violations. More  Facebook Vows Privacy Changes Facebook is redesigning its privacy controls amid criticism that it is betraying the trust of users who have made it the world's largest online social network. More  Pakistan Partly Lifts YouTube Ban A senior Pakistani official says access to the YouTube video-sharing website has been restored but that the links to "sacrilegious or profane material" will remain inaccessible in Pakistan. More  Terror Probe Into Deadly Russian Blast Russian authorities have opened a terrorism investigation following an explosion in the southwestern city of Stavropol that has killed at least seven people and wounded some 40 others, many in critical condition. More  Kazakhs Probe Mass Antelope Deaths Kazakh authorities have launched an investigation into the mass death of the endangered saiga antelope in the west of the country. More  Kyrgyzstan Asks Interpol To Help Catch Bakiev Kyrgyzstan's interim government has submitted a formal request to Interpol to assist in locating and arresting ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiev. More  Tatar Speaker Advocates Islam Holiday Tatarstan parliament speaker Farit Mukhametshin has proposed that the official adoption of Islam by the precursors of the Tatar people in the 10th century be marked annually. More  Tajiks In Bishkek Picket Uzbek Embassy About 50 Tajik students and members of Kyrgyzstan's Tajik Association picketed the Uzbek Embassy in Bishkek today to demand the full resumption of rail traffic between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. More  Report: Iranian Activist Transferred To Tough Prison Jailed Iranian political activist Emad Bahavar has been transferred to a prison known for its harsh regime. More  Armenian Government Reworks Bill On Foreign Language Schools Armenian Education Minister Armen Ashotian says a revised government bill allowing a limited number of schools in Armenia to teach in a foreign language is due to be submitted to parliament for approval soon. More  Bishkek To Revoke Akaev's Immunity Kyrgyzstan's interim government says it plans to deprive the first president of independent Kyrgyzstan, Askar Akaev, of immunity from prosecution. More  Uzbek Journalist Jailed For Extremism The prominent Uzbek sports journalist Khairulla Khamidov has been sentenced to six years in jail on charges of associating with a banned Islamic group. More  Ukraine's Killer Wreath Virals We wrote last week about Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych being attacked by a rogue wreath, while paying his respects at Kyiv's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. More  Jewish Writer Comes Home To Ukraine Bruno Schulz was both a Polish and Jewish writer and happened to be born in what is historically Ukrainian territory, but was once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and then interwar Poland. He was killed by the Gestapo during World War II. More  The Rundown - May 27 A review of news and opinion on RFE/RL's broadcast region. More  ‘What’s Your View Of Killing People In The Streets?’ A short amateur video clip is making the rounds, apparently showing a May 25 question-and-answer session with former Iranian Culture Minister Hossein Safar Harandi in which a student at Semnan University asks him a very tough question. More  Iran 'Breaks World Record' For Intelligence- and Security-Related Work More  Facebook Caught Between Roles As Civility Cop, First-Amendment Facilitator While Facebook's founder has often described his invention as a kind of country, even a massive community of people capable of acting in concert for good causes, unlike a real country Facebook has no democratically elected government nor any separation of powers or institutionalized checks and balances. Facebook does not have to explain itself when it comes to questions about how its Terms of Service are formulated and enforced. Facebook never publicizes the complaints it receives about hate groups nor reports on how it acts on them. More  How Schoolchildren Are Brainwashed In Iran Acting on orders from the supreme leader to counter the "soft war" launched by Iran's enemies after last year's disputed election, the Basij militia have beefed up their ideological indoctrination of schoolchildren. More |
