Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

RFE/RL Headlines 5/2/2011 8:16:49 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 Interview: Hamid Mir, The Last Man To Interview Bin Laden Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir first achieved global fame for his interviews with Osama bin Laden, and in December 2001 was the last journalist to speak with him before the Al-Qaeda leader disappeared underground. More   Interview: How Can The EU's Eastern Partnership Project Succeed? RFE/RL spoke with Thomas de Waal, a senior associate specializing in the Caucasus with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, about the obstacles facing the European Union's Eastern Partnership project and the prospects for its success. More   Abbottabad, The Peaceful Pakistani City Where Osama Bin Laden Met His Violent End When Osama bin Laden died in a shoot-out, it was not in a remote corner of Afghanistan, as many might have expected. Instead, it was in one of Pakistan's most popular hill resorts: Abbottabad. Why there? More   Importance Of Bin Laden's Death May Lie In Its Symbolism The death of Osama bin Laden has struck a huge symbolic blow in the war on terrorism first launched by the Bush administration. Yet in practical terms, the significance may be less momentous, while his hiding place -- in a Pakistani Army garrison town near Islamabad -- raises troubling questions. More   Bin Laden Killing Puts Pakistan On The Spot The fact that Osama bin Laden was killed in a major Pakistani city, in a villa near an elite military training academy, has put Islamabad on the spot while raising questions about Pakistan's role in the struggle against extremism. More   Obituary: Osama Bin Laden, Founder Of Al-Qaeda Terrorist Network, Killed In Pakistan Almost a decade after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, Osama bin Laden is dead. RFE/RL takes a closer look at the life and legacy of the founder and leader of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network. More   Tajikistan's Islamic Renaissance Party Rebrands, Using Social Projects To Reach Voters Tajikistan's Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP) has been pursuing a determined campaign to rebrand itself into a modern, youth-oriented force that offers more than religious lectures and political statements. The party has also been active in reaching out to ordinary people by getting involved in social projects and addressing people's everyday needs. And it seems to be working. More   News Watchdog: Governments Becoming More Skilled At Suppressing Online Press Freedom On the eve of World Press Freedom Day, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has issued a report on how authoritarian regimes are becoming increasingly adept in their efforts to suppress online media freedom. More   Press Freedom 'At Lowest Ebb' Press freedom worldwide has dropped to its lowest point in more than 10 years, with only one in six people now living in a country that has a free and independent media, according to the democracy watchdog group Freedom House. More   Osama Bin Laden Killed In Pakistan By U.S. Forces U.S. President Barack Obama has announced that Osama bin Laden, the Al-Qaeda leader and America's most wanted man, is dead. More   From Our Bureaus Kazakh Police Disperse May Day March Two Kazakh activists are in the hospital after police forcibly dispersed groups marking Labor Day in Almaty. More   Kazakh Would-Be Settlers Arrested More than 100 people have been arrested in Almaty after clashing with police and Interior Ministry forces on May 1-2 in a land dispute. More   Kyrgyz President Visits Disputed Border Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbaeva has visited the southern Batken region to familiarize herself with the situation on the country's borders with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. More   Another Armenia Oppositionist Freed Another Armenian opposition figure who was controversially arrested and imprisoned following the 2008 disputed presidential election has been paroled by a Yerevan court. More   Kyrgyz Customs Service Head's Citizenship Questioned The Kyrgyz parliament has urged the government to verify whether the head of the country's Customs Service can continue in that post in light of claims that he has dual citizenship. More   Transmission Fake Osama Bin Laden Death Photo Circulates Online It looked a bit strange to us when we first saw the composite image and indeed it turns out to be a fake. More   The Power Vertical Podcast: The Troubled Relationship Between Russia And Georgia In the third edition of "The Power Vertical Podcast," I speak with David Kakabadze, the director of our Georgian Service, about the stormy relationship between Russia and Georgia. More   Commentary In Croatia, One Step Forward, Two Steps Back Croatia has long had difficulty accepting the wartime atrocities committed by its forces during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s. But the recent reaction of the Croatian public to sentences handed down to two retired Croatian generals -- still viewed by some as heroes -- was indeed out of all proportion. More   Regional Powers Gear Up For Afghan Intrigue -- Even As West Looks Away To hear the Americans and Europeans talk, it’s the beginning of the end game in Afghanistan. The United States and its allies are rushing for the exit. More