Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

RFE/RL Headlines 5/30/2011 9:41:21 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 Why Are There No Indigenous Political Parties In Pakistan's Tribal Areas? In much of the world, it is indigenous political parties and the local civil society they represent that helps to keep extremists at bay. But in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) there is no such counterbalance. More   Looking To Youth, Iraq's 'Superman' Shoots For The Moon It seems nothing can faze 30-year-old thrill-seeker Fareed Lafta, known for extreme sports adventures and ambitions that range from skydiving over mountains to walking on the moon. But his big aspiration -- serving as a role model for Iraqi youth -- could prove to be the biggest challenge of them all. More   In Azerbaijan, Brides Too Young To Marry Are Marrying Anyway In Azerbaijan, girls as young as 12 are getting married -- an arrangement that may leave their parents more prosperous but puts the girls at risk of trafficking and abuse. More   Officials In Russia's Tatarstan Face Moment Of Truth For years, Russians have debated the use of lie-detector tests of public officials as a way of combating rampant corruption. Over the past year, the city administration of Kazan has been administering supposedly voluntary tests to officials and firing some for failing. More   Fears Mount That Russia Could Face Another Summer Of Deadly Forest Fires Peat bogs and forests have burst into flames earlier than usual this year, sparking fears of more deadly blazes this summer in Russia. Moreover, volunteer firefighters, who last year battled the fires in an impressive show of solidarity, say a new law greatly hinders them and leaves thousands of isolated villages in harm's way. More   Amnesty International Marks Golden Anniversary Amnesty International began with a lawyer's defense of two jailed Portuguese students. At 50, it now stands as the world's largest human rights organization, with some 3 million participants pressing for human rights around the globe. More   News Russia Clears Official In Magnitsky Case Russian prosecutors today cleared a chief investigator whom rights groups believe was responsible for the death of a lawyer for what was the country's largest Western investment fund. More   Deadly Wildfires Burn In Russia Russian authorities say that deadly wildfires have spread as hot, dry weather kindles fears less than a year after peat and forest fires devastated central Russia More   Clashes At Banned Moscow Gay Rally Russian gay-rights activists vowed after receiving the authorities' rejection letter on May 17 that they would proceed with the gay-pride event in the capital. More   From Our Bureaus Afghan Drug Smugglers Abduct Tajiks, Steal Cattle Tajiks living near the border with Afghanistan say armed Afghan drug smugglers routinely kidnap Tajiks for ransom and steal livestock. More   Kyrgyz Man Stabbed To Death In Moscow A Kyrgyz citizen has been stabbed to death in Moscow. Almaz Abdisyaev, a lawyer at the Kyrgyz Embassy in the Russian capital said that three workers at the Moscow Trade Center near Tikhoretsky Park got into a fight on May 29 and one of them, a Kyrgyz man, was stabbed and died before medical workers arrived. More   Murder Sentence For Kazakh Ethnic Kurd An ethnic Kurd was sentenced today in Kazakhstan to 20 years in prison and had his property confiscated after being found guilty of the rape and murder of an ethnic Kazakh girl. More   Armenian Opposition Leader: There Must 'Never Be' Political Prisoners Former Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrossian says Armenians will no longer be imprisoned for their political activities. More   Calls For Mikhalkov To Face Driving Rap Russian activists are demanding that prominent film director Nikita Mikhalkov be punished for "dangerous driving" in Moscow. More   Kyrgyz To Probe Young Soldier's Death A court in the southern Kyrgyz town of Isfana will hold hearings on May 31 into the circumstances of a young Kyrgyz soldier's death. More   Jailed Belarusian Presidential Candidate Demands New Elections Jailed Belarusian opposition politician Andrey Sannikau has made public a letter in which he demands a new round of presidential elections. More   Transmission Mr. McFaul Goes To Moscow U.S. President Barack Obama plans to nominate his chief Russia adviser, Michael McFaul, as his ambassador to Moscow, according to U.S. media reports citing unidentified administration officials. More   The Week Ahead: May 30 - June 5 More   Beyonce Dances Through War-Torn Georgia Careful viewers of Beyonce's "Run the World (Girls)" video will notice that as the American pop diva struts her stuff through a postapocalyptic landscape (walking two slobbering hyenas on chains, no less) she passes a sign along the road that seems out of place -- even in this jumble of sights and sounds. The sign is in Georgian, of all languages, and points the way to the capital, Tbilisi, as well as to Tskhinvali and Gori. More   Persian Letters Now Open Kitchens Are Un-Islamic, Too Every now and then, Iran's clerics and officials come up with new things they designate as "un-Islamic." More   Caucasus Report U.S. Designates North Caucasus Insurgency As Terrorist Organization The U.S. State Department's designation of the Caucasus Emirate proclaimed by Doku Umarov in late 2007 as a terrorist organization was unexpected. Whether Moscow's offer to mediate with embattled Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi to persuade him to step down was the quid pro quo is not clear at this juncture. More   South Ossetian Leader Explores Options For Remaining In Power Two proposals have been floated over the past month to enable the de facto president of Georgia's breakaway Republic of South Ossetia, Eduard Kokoity, to continue serving as president after the expiry of his second term. More   Gandhara The Story Of Neelum From Charbagh Shaheen Buneri tells the story of Neelum, a widow from the town of Charbagh in Pakistan's Swat Valley. More   Look Who's Talking (For Mullah Omar) Now Even if Tayyab Agha was in close contact with Mullah Omar while the Taliban was in power, that is little help when it comes to determining his current status within the Taliban organization. More   Commentary The Decidedly Uneventful 'Capture' of Ratko Mladic There were several possible scenarios floating around about what might happen when the Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic would finally be arrested. More   Photo Gallery Archive Gay Rights Marchers Bullied, Detained In Moscow Scenes from downtown Moscow on May 28, when some gay-rights advocates had pledged to go ahead with a rally despite the event being banned by city authorities. A small number of participants was confronted, violently in some cases, by antigay groups and set on by police who detained an unspecified number of people. More