 RFE/RL Headlines 7/1/2010 5:16:36 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  For Uriah Heep Fans In Former Soviet Bloc, One 'July Morning' Has Lasted 40 Years Only a few Western rock bands were able to penetrate the Soviet bloc in the 1970s, but those who did went on to enjoy cultlike status that endures until today. One such group was Britain's Uriah Heep, whose songs like "July Morning" and "Free Me" have won generations of fans in Russia and Eastern Europe. RFE/RL looks at the continued appeal of Uriah Heap -- and a long-standing Bulgarian tradition of greeting July 1 by gathering at the seaside by singing "July Morning." More  Clinton On E. Europe, Caucasus Tour Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has embarked on a five-day trip to Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus. Along the way, Clinton will try to solidify strategic military cooperation, assure nervous allies of Washington's friendship, promote peaceful settlements of regional disputes, and champion democracy. More The chief nuclear inspector of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Olli Heinonen, who lead the agency's investigations into Iran and Syria, will leave his post for personal reasons after 30 years at the UN nuclear watchdog. More  House Panel Denies Aid To Afghanistan A key House of Representatives subcommittee has voted to withhold almost $4 billion in aid to Kabul. The lawmakers are demanding an investigation into charges that huge amounts of foreign aid are being stolen in Afghanistan with the complicity of top Afghan officials. More  Petraeus Vows No Change In Afghan Rules Of Engagement General David Petraeus, the new commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, has vowed to do "everything humanly possible" to avoid casualties among Afghan civilians. More  Georgian Teachers Fear Massive Layoffs Georgian teachers and their unions worry that thousands of teachers might lose their jobs before the start of the school year. More  Moscow Airport Road Blockage Costs Aeroflot Dear The Russian airline Aeroflot says it lost 700,000 euros ($875,000) in one day as a result of a traffic problem on the major highway leading to Moscow's main airport. More  Polish Airlines To Begin Regular Flights To Georgia Poland's national airline, LOT, will begin flights between Warsaw and Tbilisi as of September 1. More  Execution Nears For Kurdish Iranian A prominent Iranian lawyer says he fears a female Kurdish activist imprisoned in Tehran is in danger of imminent execution. More  Armenian Railway 'Still Readying' For Turkish Border Opening The head of Russia's state railway (RZD) says its Armenian subsidiary is continuing technical preparations for the possible opening of the Turkish-Armenian border and the renewed rail communication between the two countries. More  Tajiks Deny Role In Kyrgyz Violence General Abdullo Nazarov, the head of the National Security Ministry's office in the southeastern region of Badakhshan, told RFE/RL that reports are unfounded that he and other Tajiks were either involved in fomenting or directly taking part in the deadly violence in southern Kyrgyzstan between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz. More  Moscow Backs Yerevan Redevelopment The municipality of Moscow has reaffirmed a pledge to support a massive redevelopment project in Yerevan that the Armenian government says will require billions of dollars in investment. More  Armenia Ruling Parties Dispute Freedom House's 'Authoritarian' Tag Armenia's governing Republican and Prosperous Armenia parties have criticized the New York-based group Freedom House for branding Armenia a "semi-consolidated authoritarian" country. More  Two Detained In Russia FSB Protest A protest against a bill that would increase the powers of Russia's main domestic security service has been blocked by police who detained two demonstrators. More The Week In Facebook RFE/RL presents a Facebook-style summary of the past week's events. Click on any of the status updates for more information. More  In Osh, Wandering Through The Remains Of The Days I was back when Namaz was being said on June 18. Since prayers were still in progress I went back to my kebab house, though I already knew what I’d find. It was ransacked and burned. More  PACE Vote Mirrors Shift In Russia's North Caucasus Policy A PACE resolution differentiates clearly between the situation in Chechnya, on the one hand, and that in neighboring Ingushetia and Daghestan, on the other. More  A Batcave Of Censorship-Breaking Technology With 120 bloggers and citizen journalists locked up around the world, the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has decided to fight back by opening an "anticensorship shelter." More  Georgia’s Long Farewell To Stalin On the night of June 25, the monument to Josef Stalin in the city of Gori was removed. And where the statue previously stood, authorities will erect a memorial to the victims of Russian aggression and Soviet repression. The symbolism of these actions is completely obvious. But if this is all there is to it, then why was the operation carried out at night amid heightened security? More |
