Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

From the Cartoonist Group.

RFE/RL Headlines 10/6/2011 7:27:20 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.

 

Picks Apple Co-Founder Steve Jobs Dies Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Inc. and former CEO, the man who brought the world the iPod, iPad, iPhone, and Macintosh computer, has died at the age of 56 on October 5, after a years-long and highly public battle with cancer and other health issues. More   Features Explainer: What's Happening To Europe's Banks? This week's near crash of a major Franco-Belgian bank has highlighted how much bad government debt Europe's banks hold. But there is no easy fix for the eurozone's continuing financial crisis. More   News Call For EU To Relax Ukraine Visa Rules Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has said in Athens that the European Union should make it easier for Ukrainians to get tourist visas and do business within its member-states. More   ECB To Give Banks New Credit Support The European Central Bank (ECB) has announced it is offering new emergency loans to banks to help steady the eurozone financial system. More   UN: Syria Protests Death Toll Tops 2,900 The UN human rights office says that the death toll from a violent crackdown by authorities in Syria has risen to more than 2,900 since protests began in March against the regime. More   EU Presses Serbia On Kosovo Talks The European Union's mediator for Kosovo and Serbia, Robert Cooper, is due to arrive in Belgrade to press for the revival of stalled talks about tensions in Kosovo's Serb-dominated north. More   Two Azeri Soldiers Killed Near Karabakh Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry says that two of its soldiers have been killed in an exchange of gunfire with Armenian troops near disputed the Nagorno-Karabakh region. More   From Our Bureaus Belarusian Police Detain Pollster A well-known independent sociologist was temporarily arrested in Belarus on his way to the Polish Embassy in Minsk and released several hours later. More   Kyrgyz Protesters Want Release Of Police Held For Killing Some 100 protesters gathered on October 6 near the Osh-Bishkek highway in southern Kyrgyzstan to demand the release of four police detained in connection with the death of a Russian citizen. More   4 Tried In Baku For Attacking Foreigners Four men have gone on trial in Baku accused of assaulting a U.S. journalist and a British rights activist in the Azerbaijani capital four months ago. More   Kyrgyz Political Murders 'Connected' Kyrgyzstan's deputy speaker told parliament on October 6 that the 2009 murders of independent journalist Gennady Pavlyuk and former senior official Medet Sadyrkulov are connected More   Kazakh Oil Giant Denies Strike Talks Managers at a Kazakh oil and gas company are denying reports that talks have begun with striking oil workers. More   Reduced Jail Terms For Bashkir Editors The prison terms of two Bashkir journalists sentenced for propagating extremism and igniting interethnic hatred have been reduced by the Supreme Court in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan. More   Wage Increase For Tajik Miners Employees at the Zarafshon gold-mining company in northern Tajikistan have been given a pay increase after threatening a general strike last month. More   EU Urges Moldova On Discrimination Bill An EU envoy has urged Moldova to pass an antidiscrimination bill that would protect homosexuals and other minorities if it wants progress on talks for visa-free travel to the EU. More   Mass Arrests 'Led To Bakiev's Ouster' A former member of Kyrgyzstan's interim government says the mass arrest of opposition leaders last year caused the deadly clashes between protesters and security forces that led to the overthrow of the government. More   Iraq To Finance New Housing To Ease Shortage Iraq's Planning and Development Ministry says it plans to improve city life in the country through better urban planning and the construction of modern homes. More   Stalin-Monument Vandals In Ukraine Have Charges Reduced Nine Ukrainian nationalists charged in the decapitation of a monument to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhya last year have had their charges reduced. More   Kyrgyz Lawyer 'Threatened' In Court A lawyer in a high-profile trial connected to last year's deadly ethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan has reportedly been threatened in court. More   Transmission Iran Warns of Facebook's Soft Power More   The Power Vertical Russian Media Speculates On Putin's Second Act A look at some of the Russian media speculation about Putin 2.0 More   Persian Letters Steve Jobs Remembered In Iran People from all over the world, including Iran, are mourning the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. More   Commentary Hitting The Sweet Spot: The True Genius Of Steve Jobs There are, fundamentally, two subspecies of entrepreneur. One starts from the present, and visualizes the next logical step from where things are now. The other visualizes a different world. More   A Defining Moment in EU-Ukraine Relations At the start of 2011, Ukraine was set to take a massive leap towards its dream of one day becoming an EU member. Now, all these efforts are in jeopardy because of the ongoing Tymoshenko court case, which is labeled as politically motivated. More   Photo Gallery Archive An Innovator's Life: Steve Jobs A retrospective of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs (1955-2011), the technology entrepreneur who was described after his death on October 5 by U.S. President Barack Obama as "among the greatest of American innovators." More   North Caucasus Hollywood Stars Attend Kadyrov's Lavish Birthday Party Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov hosted an extragavant party for his 35th birthday on October 5, rebranded as Grozny's "City Day" to celebrate the opening of a new downtown real estate development. Hollywood actors Jean-Claude Van Damme and Hilary Swank were among the celebrity guests. Reuters video More

RFE/RL Watchdog 10/6/2011 7:29:00 PM A blog of human rights, media freedom, and democracy developments from RFE/RL's broadcast region. For more, please visit and bookmark Watchdog .

 

Belarusian Lawmakers Pass New Antiprotest Bill, But Drop Prohibition On 'Inactivity' The lower house of the Belarusian parliament has adopted a new version of the law on mass protest actions. The measure drops earlier language that would have banned organized "inactivity" and now merely outlaws protest "activity." More   RFE/RL Journalist Jailed For Five Years A Turkmen court has sentenced an RFE/RL correspondent to five years in jail after convicting him of encouraging a relative's suicide attempt. More   Trial Opens Of RFE/RL Turkmen Reporter Dovletmyrat Yazkuliyev was one of the first journalists in Turkmenistan to cover deadly explosions at a weapons depot in the town of Abadan, near Ashgabat, in July, which official media initially downplayed as a minor incident. More   Tatar Moms Won't Send Sons To Army Mothers in a village in central Russia are refusing to send their sons to serve in the army following the recent death of a local conscript. More   U.S. 'Regrets' Azerbaijani Sentences The U.S. Embassy in Baku has expressed regret at the sentencing of four opposition politicians for their role in a protest six months ago. More   Police Disperse Protest By Belarusian Convicts' Mothers Police in Minsk have dispersed some 20 prisoners' mothers who attempted to stage a protest on the city's Liberty Square. More   'Final Warning' For Belarus Activist Former Belarusian presidential candidate Uladzimer Nyaklyaeu received "a final warning" from a parole officer on October 3 after leaving Belarus to visit Poland last week. More   Belarus: Opposition Leader's Wife Appeals To First Ladies The wife of jailed Belarusian opposition leader Andrey Sannikau has asked the wives of Russia's president and prime minister to help secure his release. More   Warsaw Protest For Kyrgyz Activist Dozens of Kyrgyz rights activists and their supporters have held a protest in Warsaw to demand the release of a prominent rights activist jailed in Kyrgyzstan over last year's ethnic violence. More   Jailed Belarusian Candidate Endures 'Tough Ordeal' Of Prison Transfer Jailed former Belarusian presidential candidate Andrey Sannikau has been moved for the third time in just over a week. More   Belarus Oppositionist Sought By Police A Belarusian opposition leader and former presidential candidate has been summoned by police after returning to Minsk from an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) conference on human rights in Warsaw. More   Azerbaijan Criticized By Council Of Europe Official On Rights A senior Council of Europe official has sharply criticized Azerbaijan's human rights record. More   Iran Lawyer Charged Over Rights Award Prominent Iranian lawyer Abdolfatah Soltani, who has represented a number of well-known Iranian political and rights activists and who was arrested earlier this month, is reportedly facing a new charge of accepting an "unlawful" award for his human rights work. More   Kazakh Religion Bill Clears Hurdle The upper house of Kazakhstan's parliament has approved a measure to restrict the registration of religious organizations and prohibit unauthorized religious activities, clearing it for signature by the president. More   Last Belarus Protest Trial Delayed The trial of the last person accused of taking part in "mass disorder" during the postelection protest staged in Minsk on December 19 has been suspended until next month. More   Prominent Iranian Activist Given 11-Year Sentence The deputy head of Iran's Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), Narges Mohammadi, has been sentenced to 11 years in jail. More

RFE/RL Balkan Report 10/6/2011 7:29:40 PM A review of RFE/RL reporting and analysis about the countries of the western Balkans. For more stories on the Balkans, please visit and bookmark our Balkans page .

 

Kosovo Tirade Reveals Tension In Belgrade Ivica Dacic fires a shot across the EU's bow on the first day of the Belgrade Economic Summit. More   Witness: My Weekend At 'The Hague Hilton' The road for former Yugoslavia's war criminals ends here, at "The Hague Hilton." In this section of the international war crimes detention center in Scheveningen, 40 or so accused by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia live in remarkable harmony and comfort awaiting trial or sentencing. More