Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

RFE/RL Headlines 3/3/2011 12:59:44 AM 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 Assassinated Pakistani Minister Sought Religious Harmony Shahbaz Bhatti, the assassinated minority-affairs minister in Pakistan, struggled for decades to promote interfaith harmony in the predominantly Muslim country. His loss is a major setback for the country's marginalized minorities and liberals alike who struggle for a more tolerant and pluralistic society. More   Controversial New U.S. Envoy To Azerbaijan Outlines Priorities Matthew Bryza is the new U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan. Bryza, who has a long history in the South Caucasus, outlines his new priorities in an interview with Khadija Ismayilova of RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service. More   Vladimir Milov, The Russian Opposition's Fresh Face When it comes to prospects for the opposition, Russia may be light years away from Egypt or other Middle Eastern countries now toppling their long-serving tyrants. But that hasn't stopped a group of opposition leaders from forming the country's newest liberal party to take part in key elections next year. One of its members even hopes to overcome great odds by becoming the first presidential candidate to challenge the Kremlin on behalf of a unified opposition. More   News EU Aid Commissioner Heads To Libyan Border To Evaluate Refugee Crisis The EU commissioner for humanitarian aid is heading to the Libyan-Tunisian border to look into the growing humanitarian crisis created by civilians fleeing the violence in Libya. More   UN Retracts Belarus Embargo-Violation Charge The United Nations has retracted its claim that Belarus delivered three attack helicopters to Ivory Coast in violation of a UN arms embargo and apologized to Minsk for the embarrassing incident. More   EU Pledges 470M Euros To Ukraine The European Commission today pledged 470 million euros in financial assistance to Ukraine aimed at boosting the rule of law and good governance in the country. More   Afghan Finery On Display In London An exhibition of Afghanistan's ancient treasures thought lost, destroyed, or looted over the past 30 years of conflict in the country has begun in London. More   Qaddafi Vows Fight 'To Last Man' Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi today rejected calls for his resignation, telling supporters in Tripoli that a majority of Libyans support his regime. Shortly after he spoke, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said he was opening a probe into possible crimes. More   Christian Cabinet Minister Shot Dead In Islamabad Pakistan's federal minister for religious minorities has been killed in a gun attack in Islamabad. Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian, had been threatened by Islamist militants in the past for speaking out against Pakistan's blasphemy law. The killing has drawn widespread condemnation, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling it an attack on "the values of tolerance and respect." More   From Our Bureaus Belarusian KGB Summons Opposition Activist In Mahileu The KGB office in the eastern Belarusian city of Mahileu has summoned a local opposition activist for questioning. More   Jailed Russian Opposition Activists Start Hunger Strike Four activists from Russia's opposition Yabloko party have begun a hunger strike in jail in the North Caucasus. More   Kazakh Opposition Claims Secret Deal With China A Kazakh opposition leader is urging President Nursultan Nazarbaev to confirm or deny a report about an alleged deal he made in Beijing to lease Kazakh farmland to China. More   Kyrgyz Deputy PM Optimistic About Economy Kyrgyz First Deputy Prime Minister Omurbek Babanov predicts that the Kyrgyz economy will grow 6.2 percent this year. More   Minsk Stand-Off With KGB Former Belarusian opposition presidential candidate Uladzimer Nyaklyaeu has refused to go for KGB questioning after an argument with a KGB officer monitoring his house arrest. More   Azerbaijan Hikes Main Bank Rate The Azerbaijani Central Bank has increased its key interest rate from 3 percent to 5 percent as of March 1. More   Iranian Activists Appeal To UN A number of prominent Iranian activists have written an open letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urging him to intervene in the case of detained opposition leaders Mir Hossein Musavi and Mehdi Karrubi. More   Activists Oppose Russian Police Law Four activists from Russia's opposition Left Front movement have been arrested in Moscow while protesting the country's new law on police. More   Ukrainian Tax Protester Starts Hunger Strike A Ukrainian activist detained for destroying city property during a demonstration against tax reforms has gone on hunger strike to protest the charges against him. More   Possible Taliban Office In Turkey The Afghan government would welcome any assistance by Turkey to open a representative office for the Taliban on Turkish soil, the Afghan national security adviser. More   Transmission The Month In Facebook RFE/RL presents a Facebook-style summary of last month's events. More   The Power Vertical Introducing 'The Power Vertical Podcast' In the first edition of the newly minted Power Vertical Podcast, I spoke with longtime Rusia-watcher David Satter, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. More   More Economists Call For Political Reform A group of government economists are arguing that Russia needs to fundamentally alter its political system in order to modernize its economy. More   Persian Letters Iranian Workers Say They're Hungry Iranian factory workers held up a banner as a direct challenge to President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and his recent claim that "Iran is among the few countries in the world where no one goes to bed hungry." More   Caucasus Report Armenia Stuck Between Stagnation And 'Mubarakization' More   Watchdog Six Years Later And Despite A Presidential Promise, Azeri Journalist's Murder Unsolved Six years have passed since the killing of Elmar Huseynov, a prominent Azerbaijani journalist and editor-in-chief of the now-defunct opposition magazine "Monitor," but the murder remains unsolved. More   Tangled Web Ahead Of Elections, Kazakhstan Blocks Websites It's election season in Kazakhstan and the government isn't risking an Arab-style revolt (a very unlikely prospect anyway). More   Outpost Washington The General's Troops Push Back Outpost's take on the controversy around General Caldwell has generated some interesting feedback. Now we've received a copy of a letter from Caldwell supporters, including some of his former staffers. More   Commentary The Dynamics Of Outrage And Silence In Pakistan The Koran instructs every Muslim man and woman to acquire knowledge, but our religious leaders say nothing as our children are deprived of their future. They have nothing to say about this organized campaign to keep the region's people ignorant, impoverished, and terrorized -- a perfect recruiting pool for endlessly pushing the extremist, jihadist agenda. More