RFE/RL Headlines
6/21/2011 8:13:03 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
In Afghanistan, Bickering Hints At Deepening Rift
Public bickering between U.S. and Afghan officials ahead of a key strategy announcement hints at a rocky road ahead for NATO's withdrawal plans. More 
Polygamy A Fact Of Life In Kazakhstan
It's been 90 years since the Soviet authorities banned polygamy in Central Asia. None of the states in the region has gone so far to legalize it, but with the fall of communism, the tradition of multiple marriages is nonetheless flourishing. More 
U.S. Expert Says Robots Are Changing The Face Of War
News headlines these days are filled with stories about unmanned aerial vehicles and their role in America’s "war on terror." Yet drones are merely the most visible part of a much broader technological revolution that is changing the nature of war – and raising a host of profound ethical and political questions along the way. More 
Obama To Announce Plans On Troop Withdrawal From Afghanistan
U.S. President Barack Obama is due to announce plans for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan on June 22 amid growing pressure from Congress and a U.S. public that has grown weary of nearly 10 years of involvement there. More 
OSCE Urges Kyrgyz Media Rethink
OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic has voiced concern about a resolution passed by Kyrgyzstan's parliament last week calling for the banning of a news website. More 
Scientists Warn Of Mass Extinction Of Marine Species
The health of the world's oceans is declining much faster than originally thought, says a panel of scientists in a new report. They say a mix of interacting threats -- pollution, overfishing, and other manmade problems -- is in place for a mass extinction in the oceans. More 
44 Dead In Russian Plane Crash
At least 44 people died when a passenger plane crashed in heavy fog near an airport in northwestern Russia. More 
Kyrgyz Officials Say Alleged Babanov-Bakiev Phone Call 'Faked'
Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security (UKMK) says the audio recording of an alleged phone conversation between First Deputy Prime Minister Omurbek Babanov and a fugitive son of ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiev is fake. More 
Armenian Church Slams Georgian Patriarch For 'Inappropriate' Remarks
The Armenian Apostolic Church criticized the head of the Georgia Orthodox Church today for making "inappropriate" references to Armenian Church leader Catholicos Garegin II just days after he visited Georgia. More 
Siberians Protest 'Illegal' Utility Fees
Some 2,000 people have attended a demonstration in the southeastern Russian city of Rubtsovsk against the growing number of utility fees they are being charged. More 
Belarus: Bailiffs Sent To Poczobut Home
Officials have tried to survey the property of Polish-Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut, who is on trial for insulting President Alyaksandr Lukashenka. More 
No Probe Into Kyrgyzstan Beating
Law enforcement officials in Osh say they are not investigating a reported assault on two journalists in the southern Kyrgyz city, because the pair failed to undergo a medical examination. More 
'Shoelace Suicide' For Ukraine Suspect
Officials in eastern Ukraine say a murder suspect has committed suicide by hanging himself with his shoelaces. More 
Self-Inflicted Burns Kill Kazakh Woman
A Kazakh woman who set herself on fire in front of the ruling Nur-Otan party's headquarters in Astana on June 20 has died. More That the Armenian military is equipped with domestically designed and manufactured drones has been claimed by some local defense analysts in the last few years. The remarks by Colonel Armen Mkrtchian, deputy commander of Armenia's air force, are the first official confirmation of those assertions. More 
New Finnish Government Could Reshape EU Neighborhood Policy
Finland has finally announced its new six-party coalition government after months of negotiations. The Euroskeptic True Finns party was left out, but two appointments to the new government might nonetheless have an impact on how the European Union is run. More 
'Alexander' Rises In Macedonian Capital
The enormous (and enormously contentious) bronze equestrian statue of someone who looks a lot like Alexander the Great has gone up in Macedonia's capital, Skopje. More 
On The Same Page
So it appears we won't be hearing about how "the tandem is feuding, oh my oh my" in the wake of President Dmitry Medvedev's widely discussed speech in St. Petersburg on Friday. More 
'I'm Jehovah's Witness, Not Hizb Ut-Tahrir!'
An original, but unsuccessful, ploy for two young men in southern Kyrgyzstan. Police had reportedly received information that the two men -- both citizens of Uzbekistan -- had moved to Kadamzhai and were trying to recruit new members for the banned Islamic group Hezb-ut Tahrir. When police confronted, the men, they said they were followers of Jehovah's Witnesses and their activities in the area were on behalf of that Christian group. More 
Iran Frees Jailed Human Rights Activist
Iran has freed human rights campaigner Emadeddin Baghi after he served a year-long jail term on charges of spreading "propaganda against the regime." More |
