Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

RFE/RL Headlines 3/22/2011 8:15:31 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 Central Asia Stands To Gain As NATO Shifts Supply Lines Away From Pakistan Insurgent attacks on NATO convoys in Pakistan are a major concern for the U.S. and its NATO allies trying to move supplies into Afghanistan. As a result, NATO is shifting supply routes northward through the former USSR, with consequences for the entire region. More   A Diplomatic 'Address' For The Taliban Gaining Momentum Efforts to bring Taliban fighters to the negotiating table are shifting to a new front: Turkey. Within the past few weeks, both Afghan and Turkish officials have expressed support for the idea of setting up a Taliban representative office in Turkey. More   News UN Extends Afghan Mission The UN Security Council has renewed the mandate of its mission in Afghanistan, known as UNAMA, until March of 2012. More   Teachers Protest Ukraine Cuts Thousands of Ukrainian teachers have demonstrated in Kyiv against drastic cuts in education funding planned by the government. More   Kuchma Named In Gongadze Case The slaying and decapitation of journalist Heorhiy Gongadze, a frequent critic of Kuchma, has been one of the most politically charged criminal cases in the country's post-Soviet history. More   Karzai Unveils Security Handover Spots President Hamid Karzai has announced seven areas in which Afghan forces will take over security duties, the first step toward a NATO-backed goal of having Afghan police and soldiers take control of security throughout the country by 2014. More   From Our Bureaus Kazakhs Reject Politics In Kyrgyz Murder Kyrgyz opposition journalist Gennady Pavlyuk was thrown with his arms and legs bound from a high-rise building in Almaty on December 16, 2009. He died in a hospital six days later. More   Pakistani School Kids To Learn Pashto The cabinet also decided that the study of other languages -- such as Hindko, Seraiki, Kohar, and Kohistani -- will be compulsory in areas where the majority of the local population speaks it as its mother tongue. More   Tajiks Continue To Surrender Weapons About 350 firearms have been confiscated or surrendered to the Tajik Interior Ministry so far this year under an ongoing weapons collection program. More   Ukraine Auto Rally Against Taxes Critics of a new Tax Code in Ukraine are taking part in a cross-country auto rally to protest the code's impact on small businesses. More   Detained Bashkir Activist On Hunger Strike 'To Death' A jailed leader of the Bashkir Youth Union (BYI) has announced via the Internet that he will continue his hunger strike "until I die." More   Relatives Of Missing Press Kyrgyz Government Some 30 protesters picketed the Kyrgyz government building today to demand swift clarification of the whereabouts of relatives missing since interethnic clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan last year. More   Ukrainian Judge Killed In Kyiv A Ukrainian district court judge has been killed in the capital, Kyiv. More   Russian Opposition Activist Jailed For Two Days A prominent Russian opposition activist has been sentenced to two days' administrative arrest. More   McDonald's Hasn't Sued Former Belarusian Presidential Candidate McDonald's of Minsk says it has not filed a lawsuit against former Belarusian presidential candidate Dzmitry Vus for alleged financial losses caused by postpresidential protests in December. More   Russian Man Probing Mother's Death In Detention Is Attacked A man investigating the death of his mother in pretrial detention last year has been attacked by a knife-wielding man. More   The Power Vertical Battle Lines Being Drawn? Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin spar over Libya. And this time, it might be for real. More   Chaikhana 'Too Much Politics' In Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan's President Roza Otunbaeva is confident the country's ruling coalition will survive, despite growing speculation that it is on the verge of collapse. More   Commentary Uzbekistan's Forgotten Uprising The silence that surrounds the 2005 Andijon massacre in Uzbekistan serves as a glaring reminder that some of the world’s most brutal regimes can get away with mass murder with the tacit support of Europe and the United States. More   Video Archive Crimean Tatar Repatriates Fight For Land Rights Thousands of Crimean Tatars, deported during the regime of Joseph Stalin, have returned to Ukraine from Central Asia in the past two decades. But they’ve found no official support in trying to reclaim their old homes. Instead, many are stuck living as squatters while pressing for their rights to acquire land. More