RFE/RL HEADLINES
12/5/2011 8:17:35 PM
A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio LibertyRFE/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
 Fall Of The U.S.S.R.: The View From The Other White House As the Soviet Union careened toward collapse in 1991, no country was watching the unfolding events more closely than the United States. Washington had no control over events and didn't know whether the outcome would help or hurt U.S. national interests. More  No End In Sight To South Ossetia Standoff One week after the Supreme Court in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia annulled the results of the presidential runoff, there is no end in sight to the standoff between the apparent winner and the outgoing regime. More  Nothing Has Changed And Everything Has Changed In many ways, Sunday's election change nothing at all. And in many ways it changed everything. More  Pakistan, Taliban Absence Felt In Bonn World leaders met in Bonn to commit to supporting Afghanistan after foreign troops withdraw by the end of 2014. But Pakistan and the Taliban were notable for their absence. More  Afghanistan Told 'We Will Not Abandon You' Leaders of the international community met in Bonn on December 5 and vowed to support Afghanistan after foreign troops withdraw by the end of 2014. More  Armenian Ruling Party Denies 'Witch-Hunt' Against Coalition Partner Armenia's main ruling party has dismissed speculation about a "witch-hunt" against its junior partner in the three-party governing coalition after a serious of arrests and an alleged shooting linked to politics. More  Armenia Opposition Slams Gov't 'Backlash' An Armenian parliamentary opposition leader has spoken of a "negative atmosphere" surrounding his party following a harsh response from President Serzh Sarkisian to criticism of electoral practices in Armenia. More  Kazakhstan: Dead Insurgents 'Involved In Other Crimes' Kazakh officials said today that the five armed men reported killed by police in southern Kazakhstan on December 3 had previously taken part in a number of other crimes. More  Brent Scowcroft: 'Gorbachev Was Doing Our Work For Us' As the Soviet Union careened toward collapse in 1991, no country was watching the unfolding events more closely than the United States. President George H.W. Bush was in the White House, and at his side was his national security adviser, Brent Scowcroft. As Scowcroft recalls to RFE/RL, it was "history unfolding before us and we weren't sure how it was going to work out." More  Is The Putin Magic Gone? Three leading figures in the Russian state -- President Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov -- have been severely weakened by the December 4 election result. Former Federation Council speaker Sergei Mironov, who has reinvented himself as an opposition figure, meanwhile, looks like the big winner. What are the implications? More  Russian Vote 'Marred By Violations' Western election observers have chided Russia for parliamentary polls that saw Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s United Russia barely clinging onto its majority. Critics say the result would have been even worse for the ruling party had the election been free and fair. More  United Russia Out Of Step With Society The heavy losses suffered by the ruling United Russia party in parliamentary elections at the weekend is a reflection of dramatic changes in the Russian Federation in recent years, according to analysts. More  Allegations Of Electoral Violations Made Across Russia -- And Online Even before polls closed in Russia's parliamentary elections, accusations of vote-rigging and fraud -- all to aid the ruling United Russia party -- had been widely reported. And in the Age of the Internet, some of the alleged violations have been filmed or photographed and posted on the web. More  Snow Paralyzes Tajik Capital's Airport Tajik authorities in Dushanbe had to suspend operations at the international airport in the capital today due to heavy snow and fog. More  Tatar Leader: Ukraine's Tatars Won't Attend New Kyiv Mosque A leader of the Tatar minority in Ukraine says he does not expect ethnic Tatars to attend a newly opened mosque that is the largest in Kyiv. More  Turkmenistan Bars Kazakh Activist From Leaving Country A prominent leader of the ethnic Kazakh community in Turkmenistan has been prevented from leaving Ashgabat to make a visit to Kazakhstan.More  Tymoshenko 'More Powerful In Jail' Ukraine's first president, Leonid Kravchuk, says jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's political popularity is stronger now since she was sentenced. More |
