Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

RFE/RL Headlines 3/25/2011 6:27:40 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.

 

Picks Belarusian Oppositionist Vows To Return After being granted asylum in the Czech Republic, Ales Mikhalevich, a former opposition presidential candidate in Belarus, says he intends to be in Belarus a year from now. More   News EU Leaders Ponder Libya, Japan, Euro European Union leaders met in Brussels on March 24-25 to discuss the turmoil in Libya, the fiscal crisis in the eurozone, and the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan. More   BP's Russian Partners Block Major Arctic Oil Deal A Swedish arbitration panel has dealt the BP energy company a setback by blocking a major deal with Russia's Rosneft to explore oil reserves in the Arctic. The suit was filed by the Russian partners of BP's Russian joint venture, which was not part of the deal. More   Kyrgyz Inmates Declare Hunger Strike Inmates in four jails in Kyrgyzstan have announced that they have launched a hunger strike. More   Iran Objects To UN Rights Move Iran's Foreign Ministry says the newly created post is "politically motivated" and meant to divert attention from rights abuses in the United States. More   From Our Bureaus Kazakh Ombudsman Claims Decline in Torture; Rights Activists Disagree Kazakh Ombudsman Askar Shakirov says the situation regarding torture in the country has improved significantly, a statement many human rights activists dispute. More   Iraqi Deputies Question Need For Three Vice Presidents Iraqi politicians say the country does not need to have three vice presidents when the presidential post itself is largely ceremonial. More   Heydar Aliyev Statue For Belgrade A statue of late Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev will soon be erected in a Belgrade park that the Azerbaijani government is donating 2 million euros ($2.82 million) to renovate. More   Miltants Bomb Pakistan Girls' School Unidentified insurgents destroyed two schools for girls in Pakistan's Khyber Agency. More   Afghan Army Will Get Billions In Aid Afghanistan will receive $20 billion in aid from the U.S. government over the next two years to boost its military competency. More   Teachers Told To Help In Kazakh Vote Some school teachers in western Kazakhstan have been ordered to assist in preparations for the April 3 presidential election. More   Uzbek Activist 'Wins' Exit Visa Battle Uzbek rights activist Dmitry Tikhonov has been given an exit visa after months of rejections and litigation against Uzbekistan's Interior Ministry. More   Kazakhs Want Probe Of 1986 Protests Representatives of the political movement Jeltoqsan Akitat said on March 24 that they had collected more than 80,000 signatures in support of their call for the investigation into a deadly mass protest in December 1986 in Kazakhstan. More   Iraq Row Over Insurgents In Politics The Iraqi government's announcement that five insurgent groups renounced violence and will join the political process has been met with different reactions by the country's political factions. More   Khomeini Grandson Condemns Arrests The opposition Kaleme website reported that Yasser Khomeini called the house detentions of opposition leaders Mir Hossein Musavi and Mehdi Karrubi an "unacceptable measure." He made the comments while visiting Karrubi's son, Ali, who was recently released from prison on bail. More   Transmission Russian 'Pirates' Sentenced A Russian court has sentenced six men accused of taking part in hijacking the "Arctic Sea" cargo ship in 2009, when its bizarre disappearance prompted an international search and speculation about a secret Russian arms sale to the Middle East gone bad. More   Cuban Blogger Faces Down Big Brother Internationally acclaimed blogger Yoani Sanchez says that the Cuban government, in its attempt to destroy her by denouncing her on state television, has given her the greatest gift of all -- recognition within her own country. More   The Blender Podcast: Ouch! Medvedev Vs. Putin; Playing The Kyrgyz Komuz; Untangling 'Tangled Web' More   Commentary The Beginning Of Post-Islamism? People around the world have been making comparisons between the situations in their countries and those in the Arab lands in revolt. Will Saudi Arabia follow the path of Egypt? Is Azerbaijan like Tunisia? More   Video Archive Kabul Musicians See Tradition In Decline Kharabat Street in Kabul was once the heart of Afghanistan’s classical music tradition. But years of war, emigration, and Taliban rule fractured the community here and its musical heritage. The musicians of Kharabat now wonder how to make themselves heard in a changing culture. Produced by Abubakar Siddique and Sayedjan Sabawoon More   Belarus Mikhalevich - Belarusian version Mikhalevich - Belarusian version More