 RFE/RL Headlines 9/16/2010 6:32:20 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  Kremlin Wants Him Out, But Moscow's Mayor Isn't Going Without A Fight It’s Russia’s first real political drama in years. The Kremlin wants to replace Moscow’s powerful Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, but he’s not going without a fight. Years of antagonisms have exploded in a bitter media battle that’s providing a rare show of defiance to Russia’s normally all-powerful authoritarian regime. More  For Kabul Voters, Corruption -- Up Close And Personal -- Is The Hot-Button Issue As Kabul's residents prepare to vote in September 18 parliamentary elections, almost everyone seems to agree on one thing. They are angry over the country's high level of corruption and want to stop it. More  France's Roma Expulsions Overshadow EU Summit What onlookers described as a "fierce exchange" between the French president Nicolas Sarkozy and the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, on France's controversial expulsions of Roma cast a pall over the EU summit in Brussels. More  Pope Celebrates Mass In Glasgow Pope Benedict XVI has taken his campaign to revive Christianity in an increasingly secular Europe to Britain. But the pontiff faces a difficult task in a country where many oppose his policies and where there is growing anger over church sex-abuse scandals. More  Rights Groups Decry Kyrgyz Sentence International human rights groups have condemned a court in Kyrgyzstan's sentencing of an ethnic Uzbek human rights activist to life in prison. More  Armenian Opposition Dissatisfied With Election Reforms Armenia's leading opposition forces told European election experts that they remain adamant in dismissing electoral reforms promised by President Serzh Sarkisian's governing coalition. More  Russian NGOs Get Document Demand Some 20 Russian human rights organizations and nongovernmental organizations have been ordered to submit various financial and internal documents to Moscow's Prosecutor-General's Office. More  Iran Lawyer Spouse Could Be Arrested The husband of jailed Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh says he and her lawyer have been threatened with arrest if they continue to disseminate information about her case. More  Tajiks Nab Seventh Jailbreak Fugitive Tajik authorities say they have captured another member of a group of high-profile inmates who broke out of jail in Dushanbe last month. More  Gorbachev Backs New Political Alliance Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev stated at the inaugural gathering on September 15 that the new alliance, called Civil Dialogue, will be "a nonpartisan democratic entity." More  NATO 'Untroubled' By Russia-Armenia Defense Pact A senior NATO official has said that Armenia's new defense agreement with Russia will not negatively impact its growing cooperation with NATO. More  N. Ossetia Protesters Want Better Security Hundreds of protesters have gathered in the center of Vladikavkaz to demand better security, one week after a deadly bomb attack at a market in the North Ossetian capital. More  Karzai In Pakistan On 'Support Drive' Afghan President Hamid Karzai has restated his government's resolve to hold peace talks with the Taliban, during a visit to neighboring Pakistan. More  Kazakh Leader 'To Seek Reelection' An adviser to Kazakhstan's president, Nursultan Nazarbaev, says that country's only leader in its post-Soviet history will seek a fresh term in office in 2012. More The Week In Facebook RFE/RL presents a Facebook-style summary of last week's events. Click on any of the status updates for more information. More  Name 'Sarkozy' Popular Among Roma In Eastern Europe Amid all the furor stirred by the French government’s decision to repatriate hundreds of Romanian and Bulgarian Roma, many would be surprised to learn that Sarkozy is a pretty popular name among the Roma communities in Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania. More  The Cuban Model Is Broke, But The People Didn't Break It The back-and-forth between former Cuban leader Fidel Castro and "Atlantic Monthly" journalist Jeffrey Goldberg over Castro's purported statement that Cuba's economic model isn't working anymore ended on Monday with the announcement that the government plans to lay off more than 500,000 state workers by April 1, 2011. More But he catches himself! More  New Blogs At RFE/RL In additions to our stalwarts, The Power Vertical, Persian Letters, Watchdog, and Caucasus Report, there are a couple of new RFE/RL blogs on the block. More  Ahmadinejad's Special Envoys Become 'Advisers' The change to their titles comes after protests by lawmakers and former diplomats and also criticism from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, who had warned against parallel activities in foreign affairs and other areas. More  President Times Infinity It probably will not come as a surprise to most that Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbaev is planning to run for another term as president. More  Waving The Banner Of Azerbaijan's New Oil Boom Twenty years after Azerbaijan gained its independence, the country is experiencing a second oil boom. Only this time, Elnur Aslanov argues, Azerbaijan is in charge of its natural resources and Azerbaijani citizens are reaping the benefits. More |
