 RFE/RL Headlines 7/23/2010 6:37:19 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  Eastern Europe's Frozen Conflicts Look To Kosovo Ruling While the International Court of Justice says has said its ruling approving Kosovo's declaration of independence is unique to Kosovo, the ruling is being regarded in more universal terms. And nowhere more so than by parties involved in secession crises or frozen conflicts themselves. More  Taliban Violence Creating Social Revolution Among Pashtuns A years-long Taliban campaign to eliminate Pashtun leaders and radicalize the youth they traditionally controlled has brought chaos to communities already ravaged by war, migration, and underdevelopment. More This week, Facebook announced that its number of user profiles had reached 500 million. But American satirist and journalist P. J. O'Rourke is not impressed. In an interview with RFE/RL's Luke Allnutt, he explains why he isn't very hopeful about the future of journalism and what he thinks of when he thinks about Twitter. More  Obama Pick For U.S. Ambassador To Azerbaijan On The Defensive At Senate Hearing The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations has held a hearing on the controversial nomination of Matthew Bryza for the post of U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan. Facing a variety of concerns from senators, and amid Armenian accusations of pro-Azerbaijan bias, Bryza quickly found himself on the defensive. More  Russia's Khimki Forest Standoff Continues Protesters remain camped out in the Khimki forest, near Moscow, as they attempt to prevent its destruction to make way for a new highway. More  As Facebook Grows, It's Not Just In English Facebook is already well known as the world's most widely used social networking site. But just how widely became clear this week, when the company announced that its number of user profiles had reached 500 million. More  Osh Mayor Says No International Police Force Needed In Kyrgyzstan As the OSCE signs off on sending a small international police force to help maintain order in southern Kyrgyzstan, and allegations of abuse continue to emerge, the mayor of Osh says no such force is needed and dismisses the suggestion that human rights violations are being committed. More Russian police have detained a dozen environmental activists at the Khimki forest north of Moscow, which is slated to be replaced by an $8 billion highway between Moscow and St. Petersburg. More  ICJ Says Kosovo Independence Legal The highest United Nations court has ruled that Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia was legal. More  OSCE Approves Deployment Of Police Advisers To Kyrgyzstan The OSCE Permanent Council has agreed to deploy a team of police advisers in southern Kyrgyzstan to assist the country in reducing interethnic tensions in the region. More  Azerbaijan Confirms New Karabakh Plan Presented Azerbaijan has confirmed Armenian claims that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev presented his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts with a new plan to end their conflict over the breakaway Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh in St. Petersburg last month. More  Terror Suspects Extradited To Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan has confirmed that two men who were detained earlier this month in northern Tajikistan have been handed over to Kyrgyz authorities at Bishkek's request. More  Iran Relocates Government Employees The Iranian cabinet has passed legislation forbidding the creation of new government posts in Tehran and instructing other employees to relocate. More  Kazakhstan's Ex-Drug Czar Extradited Turkey has extradited Kazakhstan's former antidrug czar who has been charged with abuse of power. More  Moldova Promises Russia Better Wine Moldovan Economy Minister Valeriu Lazar says that "only good wine" will be exported to Russia. More  Innocent Pakistani Woman Released From Jail After 14 Years The High Court in the Pakistani city of Lahore has ordered the release of a woman held without trial for 14 years on blasphemy charges. More  Armenian Party Denies Conspiracy An Armenian opposition party has strongly denied any stifling of dissent within its ranks and the ostracizing of a prominent member critical of its de facto leader, former President Levon Ter-Petrossian. More  'Red Terror' Mass Grave Found In St. Petersburg Archeologists working at the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg have discovered some 100 bone fragments which they say are part of a mass grave from the Red Terror of 1918. More  Hazing Increases In The Russian Military Russia's Military Prosecutor's Office says instances of hazing in the army during the first five months of 2010 have increased by 50 percent compared to last year. More  Kazakh Inmate Found Hanged In Jail The inmate in Kazakhstan's notorious Dolinka prison who shot a video showing another inmate being beaten by a jail guard in May was found hanged in the penitentiary last month More  Russia Court Rules Against Skyscraper The Russian Constitutional Court has ruled against the construction of the controversial Okhta Center skyscraper in St. Petersburg's historic downtown. More  Iranian Labor Activist Freed A spokesman for Tehran's municipal bus-service union has been released from prison on bail. More  Canadian Pashtun Senator Concerned About Pakistan The first Pashtun woman to serve in the Canadian parliament says she is concerned about the plight of women in her home country of Pakistan. More  U.S. Blacklists Tajik Cotton Tajikistan says a prohibition by President Emomali Rahmon on the use of child labor to pick cotton remains in force, but Tajik cotton has still been blacklisted by the United States. More  Russian Officials Give Contradictory Assessments Of Baksan Attack Russian prosecutors have categorized the militant raid early on July 21 that damaged the Baksan hydropower plant in Kabardino-Balkaria as an act of sabotage, rather than an act of terrorism, thereby implicitly downplaying its seriousness and political implications. By contrast, the head of the North Caucasus Federal District has unequivocally branded the attack as terrorism. More  Georgia Coming Back In From The Cold Georgia's opponents (or the opponents of the current government) have been fond of saying that the country is isolated and the West no longer supports us. After the diplomatic parade this month, it's much harder to make this argument. More |
