RFE/RL Headlines
3/8/2011 9:30:59 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
What Are The World's Options On Libya?
What are the world's options for containing the escalating conflict in Libya - and how ready is the international community to go beyond talk to action? More 
Iranian Women Paying The Price In Crackdown
The fates of Zahra Rahnavard and Fatemeh Karrubi -- the wives of Iranian opposition leaders Mir Hossein Musavi and Mehdi Karrubi, respectively -- remain unknown. Their disappearance serves as a reminder of the heavy price that women have paid for speaking out against the Iranian government. More 
Prominent Russian Rights Activist Calls On EU To Change Asylum Policy
The plight of Chechen refugees in the European Union is often a forgotten topic in Brussels. Human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina arrived this week to raise awareness about the fear many Chechens feel while their asylum process is being considered in the EU -- and what sort of reality awaits them should they be forced to return home. More 
Lester Brown's 'World On The Edge'
Renowned thinker Lester Brown argues that pressures on the environment -- from climate change to soil erosion to deforestation -- are combining to create a "perfect storm" that could result in massive disruptions in food supply and a collapse in the world economy. More 
Kyrgyz President Receives U.S. 'Women Of Courage' Award
Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbaeva has been awarded one of 10 International Women of Courage honors given out by the U.S. State Department. Other honorees this year include Maria Bashir, the prosecutor general in Afghanistan's Herat Province; Nasta Palazhanka, the deputy chair of the Malady Front (Young Front) nongovernmental organization in Belarus; and Ghulam Sughra, founder and chief executive officer for the Marvi Rural Development Organization in Pakistan. More 
'Green' Website Pulls Iran Jail Reports
The website of Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Musavi says he and his wife are at their home, apologizing for previous claims that they were in prison. The claim could not immediately be verified. More 
Serbia, Kosovo Launch Talks
Serbia and Kosovo today hold their first direct negotiations since Pristina declared independence in 2008. More 
Rafsanjani Loses Key Iran Post
Iran's former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, lost his position as the head of a key state body, after hardliners criticized him for being too close to the reformist opposition. The Assembly of Experts has the theoretical power to select and dismiss the Islamic Republic's supreme leader. More 
U.S. Vice President Heading To Russia And 'Model' Moldova
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is on a weeklong, three-nation trip focused primarily on expanding U.S.-Russian ties but bookended by visits to Helsinki and EU hopeful Moldova. More 
B-Day In Jail For Belarus Candidate
Former Belarusian opposition presidential candidate Andrey Sannikau has marked his 57th birthday in the KGB pretrial detention center in Minsk. Sannikau's relatives say KGB officials refused on March 7 to accept a package with food and gifts for him. More 
Two More Azerbaijani Activists Detained
Sakhavan Soltanli, from the youth wing of the opposition Musavat party, was being held at a police station. Also taken into custody on March 8 was Rashadat Akhundov, a member of the NIDA Youth organization who earlier participated in opposition protests. More Religious clerics prayed in the republic's mosques and Kabardino-Balkaria's leaders laid flowers at the grave of the founder of Balkar literature, Kyazim Mechiev, who died in exile in Central Asia. More 
Czechs Award Kyrgyz Rights Activist
Azimjan Askarov is this year's recipient of the Homo Homini prize, awarded annually by the Prague-based NGO People in Need "to an individual in recognition of a dedication to the promotion of human rights, democracy, and nonviolent solutions to political conflicts." More In an open letter made public on March 7, one day before Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbaeva was to be honored, Mutabar Tajibaeva said the U.S. State Department's decision to give the International Women of Courage award to Kyrgyz president "killed my nation's trust in the United States to [maintain] justice and truth." More 
Sufi Dervishes Charged In Iran
A Revolutionary Court in the western Iranian city of Boroujerd has brought some 189 Gonabadi dervishes to court for questioning and presented 10 with criminal charges. More 
Tajiks Disagree On Celebrating Mothers Or All Women
Political parties in Tajikistan are at odds over a decision to celebrate Mother's Day on March 8, which was previously marked as International Women's Day. More 
Kadyrov Loses, And Wins, With Brazilian Footballers
Ramzan Kadyrov staged another massive tribute to himself tonight as big-name Brazilian footballers rolled into Chechnya's capital for an exhibition match against a local team captained by the thuggish Chechen leader himself. More 
The Rundown - March 8
News and views on RFE/RL's broadcast region. More 
'Black Hawks' And Hot Air
Five weeks after the "Black Hawks" anti-Wahhabi force first attacked the home southeast of Nalchik of a suspected fighter's family, uncertainty persists about their identity and affiliation. Despite renewed threats to do so, they have still not attempted to kill a single one of the militants whose lives they have threatened. More 
Don't Let The World Forget Its Promises To Afghan Women
It is clear that the international community's reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan have largely bypassed women and girls. On the occasion of International Women's Day, the Afghan government ought to consider a genuine policy of ameliorating the predicament of 50 percent of its citizens. More 
Plan B To Save The World
More |
