 RFE/RL Headlines 8/31/2010 7:32:40 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  Pakistan Devastation Hits High-Water Mark As his neighbors work to salvage what possessions they can from their ruined homes, Gul Shirin sits in silence amid 13 freshly dug graves. The 80-year-old Swat Valley resident has lost nearly his entire family to the floods that continue to ravage Pakistan. More  New School Year Brings Anxiety In South Kyrgyzstan Some families in southern Kyrgyzstan see the start of school as an opportunity to help their children heal the wounds of a summer break marred by bloody ethnic violence. Others fear that security measures are insufficient. More  Russian Rights Activist Battles On In Chechnya A decade after Russia launched the second war in Chechnya, supposedly to bring order to a lawless region, Chechens are still being abducted, tortured, and killed -- this time mostly by the Kremlin-installed authorities who are firmly in charge. Kheda Saratova is one of the handful of human rights activists left who continue to risk their lives in Chechnya. More  U.S. Concern Over Afghan School Attacks Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said in a statement that the United States is "deeply concerned" by the recent poisonings of Afghan schoolchildren in Kabul. More  Maliki Welcomes 'Independence' As U.S. Ends Combat Operations In Iraq The United States formally ends its combat operations in Iraq today, more than seven years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein's regime. But among ordinary Iraqis, there are still concerns about security. More  Tajik Ministry Angry Over Jailbreak Tajikistan's Justice Ministry is trying to determine whether negligence on the part of the State Committee of National Security contributed to the escape of 25 prisoners on August 22 from a prison in Dushanbe. More  Activist Detained In Belarus Police have detained a Belarusian activist for distributing booklets in the central town of Salihorsk. More  Kabul Challenges Pakistan TV Ban The recent ban imposed on Afghan TV channels by Pakistan’s government is not to the benefit of either country. More  Tajiks Punished For Children's Truancy A court in the town of Qurghonteppa in southern Tajikistan has passed sentence for the first time on parents whose children failed for months to attend school. More Kyrgyz education officials say around 1,000 students in the south of the country will begin the new school year in tents on September 1, a result of the destruction of several local schools in recent ethnic fighting. More  Belarus Evangelical Church Bank Account 'Frozen' Authorities in Belarus are reported to have frozen the bank account of an embattled evangelical church. More  Russian Workers Strike Over Living Conditions Around 10 residents of a workers' dormitory in the city of Kirov in central Russia are on the ninth day of a hunger strike to protest living conditions More  Kazakh Town Mayor Found Dead The mayor of the town of Ereymentau in northern Kazakhstan has been found dead. More Unknown assailants threw two Molotov cocktails into the compound of the Russian Embassy in Minsk on the night of August 30. More  Minister: Iranian Universities Opposing Regime Should Be Destroyed Iran's science minister has said universities which are against the values of the regime and its Basij militia should be razed to the ground More  The Rundown - August 31 A review of news and opinion on RFE/RL's broadcast region. More  The August 'Revolution' In many ways, Russian civil society came of age during this long, hot, and tumultuous August. How will the authorities respond? More  Experts Point To More Flaws In Georgian Constitutional Amendments The Georgian authorities appear determined to enact as swiftly as possible constitutional amendments that many opposition politicians are convinced are designed to prolong Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's hold on power after his second term expires in January 2013. More  Is There A Foundation For Peace Between Russia And Georgia? In order even to begin thinking about possible solutions, one must first imagine a Russia that is capable of genuinely recognizing Georgia's right to choose its own government and its own political course. But no such Russia is anywhere in sight. More One Kindle Per Child Is Nicholas Negroponte preparing to launch a One Kindle Per Child-type project? You might think so if you read his piece in Global Post extolling the virtues of e-readers (especially in the developing world.) More |
