 RFE/RL Headlines 7/15/2010 6:18:47 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  Sarkozy Battles Corruption Allegations French President Nicolas Sarkozy is struggling to contain a spiraling scandal over allegations he received illegal donations to his 2007 campaign. The scandal centers on alleged contributions from France's richest woman, Liliane Bettencourt, who herself has been under investigation for tax evasion. More  U.S. Hands Over Last Prison In Iraq The U.S. Army handed over the last detention facility under its control to Iraqi authorities on July 15. More  Merkel, Medvedev In Wide-Ranging Talks Meeting against the backdrop of the St. Petersburg forum -- an annual gathering of Russian and German businessmen and politicians that is now in its 10th year -- the two leaders were overseeing the signing of deals between German and Russian companies worth billions of dollars. Merkel and Medvedev also were discussing Russia's human rights situation, Russia-EU relations, and international issues such as Iran's nuclear program. More  Missing Renew Tensions In Kyrgyzstan The Red Cross has warned that the fate of missing people has renewed tensions in southern Kyrgyzstan, the scene of deadly interethnic riots last month. More  U.S. Senate Holds Afghan Hearing The U.S. Senate's Foreign Relations Committee met with U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke to discuss the strategy for Afghanistan and any signs of progress in the nearly decade-old conflict to defeat the Taliban and their international terrorist allies. More  'Abducted' Scientist Arrives In Iran Iranian nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri has returned to Iran, repeating claims that he was taken to the United States against his will. More  Russian Activists Say Forest Threatened Russian environmentalists are warning that workers have begun clearing a swath of the Khimki forest for the new Moscow-St. Petersburg highway. More  Bashkir Leader Rakhimov Resigns, Replacement Named Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has accepted the resignation of the president of the republic of Bashkortostan, Murtaza Rakhimov. More  Jailed Transdniester Journalist's Wife Doubts Amnesty Offer The wife of jailed independent journalist Ernest Vardanean says she doubts he will be given clemency by authorities in Moldova's breakaway Transdniester region because of the serious charges against him. More  Arrests In Kyrgyz Policeman's Death Three ethnic Uzbek citizens of Kyrgyzstan have been detained on suspicion of killing a policeman near Jalal-Abad during violent ethnic clashes last month. More  Kazakh Asylum Seeker 'Disappears' A Kazakh woman seeking asylum in Kyrgyzstan on a claim of religious persecution has gone missing. More  Kazakhs Visit Ravaged Kyrgyz City A government delegation from Kazakhstan visited the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh on July 15 to see the destruction left by ethnic violence last month. More  Armenian Opposition Activists Go On Trial Two men arrested during a recent opposition protest in Yerevan went on trial on charges their supporters say are politically motivated. More  N.Caucasus Terrorism Raises Concerns Russian analysts say the recent arrest of eight suspected terrorists in Daghestan shows the depth of the problem Moscow has with terrorist groups in the area. More  Sanctions Can't Curb Iran Stock Boom Tehran's stock exchange index, TEPIX, hit a record high on July 14. More  Pakistani Nationalist Leader Killed Former Pakistani lawmaker and nationalist leader Habib Jalib was shot dead today in Pakistan's southern city of Quetta. More  Female Sufi Dance Performance Is A First For Tehran On July 16, a group of female musicians and dancers will perform the sama, a traditional dance of Sufi Islam, for the first time in Tehran. More Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's recent embrace of micro-blogging service Twitter, through his KremlinRussia account, has other Russian officials following suit, says RIA Novosti. More  Magnitsky's Final Hours A Theater Success In Moscow The small theater stage is the world and all the people on it are to be judged, says the director of a play based on the diary of a Russian lawyer who died in prison last year. The production -- based on the daily writings of Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a Moscow prison in October after awaiting trial for nearly one year -- has been running in Moscow for more than a month and is completely booked through August, organizers say. More  Is Karabakh Peace Process Dead, Or Just Deadlocked? The prospects for the signing of a provisional peace agreement ending the two-decade-old Nagorno-Karabakh conflict have deteriorated dramatically over the past month. More Azerbaijani media have reported that several people, including two police officers, were injured during a large-scale brawl in the village of Shotlanly in the Terter district between local residents and internally displaced persons recently relocated there. More |
