 RFE/RL Headlines 10/5/2009 4:46:50 PM A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| News  Five Killed In Attack On Pakistani UN Office After Taliban Threat At least five people have been killed by a bomb blast at a United Nations building in Islamabad after a threat by Hakimullah Mehsud, the new leader of the Pakistani Taliban. More  Moldova Leader Confident Of Breakthrough With Communists Acting Moldovan President Mihai Ghimpu says he is confident that the opposition Communist Party will help end a political deadlock over the election of a president, RFE/RL's Moldovan Service reports. More  Rakhat Aliev's Father Returns To Kazakhstan Mukhtar Aliev, the father of former Kazakh presidential son-in-law Rakhat Aliev, has returned to Almaty from London in the hope of his wife being allowed to leave Kazakhstan for medical care, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports. More  Russian Trade Unions Start Five Days Of Protests The Russian Federation of Independent Trade Unions has begun a five-day mass protest today called "For Worthy Labor!" in several cities across the country, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Mongolia Journal: What, No Fishing? More  Mongolia Journal: Blood, Guts, And Vodka The mining industry is driving Mongolia’s growth, but it often seems that the economy is actually sheep-based. Some 40 percent of the population is employed in raising livestock; mutton and sheep’s milk are staples at nearly every meal; and sheep outnumber people nearly five to one. More  Kyrgyz MPs Oblige Citizens To Sing National Anthem Kyrgyzstan's parliament has adopted legislative amendments that oblige the country's citizens to sing the national anthem during official performances. More  Averting A PR Disaster In Moldova Acting President Mihai Ghimpu steps back from the precipice in Moldova, where a new pro-EU government hopes to turn the page on a decade of cronyism and backsliding under Communist rule. More  Death Of A Torturer The death of General Nicolae Plesita, a ruthless former chief of the dreaded Romanian Securitate, comes at a moment when former Eastern Bloc countries prepare to celebrate 20 years since the collapse of communism. More  Ingushetian President Dissolves Cabinet, Fires Prime Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov dismissed Prime Minister Rashid Gaysanov and the entire republican government on October 5, citing as the reason for doing so corruption and ministers' failures in resolving socioeconomic problems, including in agriculture. He named Security Council Secretary Aleksei Vorobyov acting prime minister, while the remaining ministers will continue to discharge their duties pending the naming of a new cabinet. More Ten of the 41 men charged in connection with the purported mutiny at the Mukhrovani military base near Tbilisi on May 5 retracted their pleas of guilty on September 30 and refused to testify further. It is not clear why they did so; before the trial began, then human rights ombudsman Sozar Subari told RFE/RL that his office sought to clarify reports that at least some of the defendants had been beaten and/or tortured. More  Homeless Stage Protest In South Ossetia Between 60 and 200 Ossetians whose homes were destroyed or damaged in the August 2008 war between Georgia and Russia gathered on September 30 outside the government building in Tskhinvali to protest the delay in providing them with new accommodation. More  'Mr. Khamenei, I Wish You'd Feel Ashamed Of Yourself...' Blogger "Peacefuliran" responds to a "roundtable" in which three senior reformists arrested in the postelection unrest appeared and said that they had undergone a change in prison. The families of the prisoners and rights groups say they are under pressure to make false confessions. Among those who appeared on state television was top reformist strategist, Said Hajarian, who was left paralyzed by an assassination attempt and who can barely speak. More  Iran Downplays 'Openness' In Nuclear Meeting The Iranian establishment appears to be using last week's talks on its controversial nuclear program to gain political capital at home, claiming a major victory and lauding the success of its confrontational stance. More  After Ireland Ireland's "yes" vote on the Lisbon Treaty last week, though welcomed by many in the EU, is not yet enough to see through the long-awaited reforms designed to streamline the bloc after the 2004 and 2007 enlargements. Poland and the Czech Republic have yet to ratify the Lisbon Treaty, and the process could be delayed for months. More  Is Region Developing Armies Of The Underprivileged? Central Asia's military call-up season conjures up images of appalling living conditions, inadequate food, and endemic bullying of young conscripts. It also sparks widespread draft evasion. Now some countries in the region are trying reforms to boost compliance. More  Stalin Returns To The Moscow Metro Josef Stalin's name and image once graced the walls of the Moscow metro, but disappeared during the era of de-Stalinization in the 1950s. Now Stalin is reappearing underground -- just as his reputation is slowly being restored throughout Russia. More  Shevardnadze Talks About German Reunification Former Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze was a major force behind reforms that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. On the anniversary of German reunification, Shevardnadze talks to RFE/RL's Georgian Service about his role and the tempest that threatened "had Germany not been united without bloodshed." More  What Next For Iran's Nuclear Program? The challenge now is to assure that Iran does not have clandestine nuclear facilities that make diplomacy irrelevant. RFE/RL correspondent Charles Recknagel spoke with nuclear expert Shannon Kile of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute about the new difficulties. More  EU, U.S. Announce Emergency Talks With Bosnia Instability in Bosnia-Herzegovina has prompted plans for an emergency visit by EU and U.S. officials next week. The latest political crisis in Bosnia has escalated rapidly since authorities in Bosnia's Serb entity, Republika Srpska, threatened to pull out of federal government structures. More  Building A Viable Afghan Army Western governments are pressing for Afghan forces to take on a greater role in countering the violent insurgency. But critics have expressed doubts as to whether, at this stage, the Afghan military can play the primary role in stabilizing the country. More  Tony Judt On 'One Of East Europe's Great Mistakes' The future of the EU, Russia's relations with Europe, the course of American foreign policy. All have dominated headlines in recent weeks, and all are issues that renowned European historian Tony Judt has spent a lifetime analyzing and writing. Judt, who is director of the Erich Maria Remarque Institute at New York University, sat down with RFE/RL correspondent Heather Maher for a broad-ranging interview about the strength of the European Union, Russia's ambitions, and what Central and Eastern Europe should expect from Washington. More  Moldova's Near Miss With Nepotism Every leader wants to be surrounded by people he can trust. And who, after all, is generally more trustworthy and loyal than family? More  Commentary: The Fragile Balkans Strong and undiminished national sentiments certainly constitute the biggest obstacle to long-term stability and prosperity in the western Balkans. The Kosovo issue is another stumbling block. More  Lessons Georgians Should Draw From War Probe Former Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili says "our duty to both Georgian and international opinion is to confront this reality and try to move on from there." More  What Does Russia Think? If we want to deal with Russia, we need to understand it. Western observers tend to focus on what Russia lacks -- be it Western-style democracy, the rule of law, or property rights. Russia may have justifications for all of these gaps, but we need to look closely at the Russian debate to find out. More  Bosnia's Serb Republic Challenges The National Order Bosnia's Republika Srpska is threatening to withdraw its participation in the country's governing institutions unless the Office of the High Representative reverses a key decision. It's just the latest attempt by Banja Luka to shake off the international community. More  Turning To Russia To Save A California Landmark Recent budget cuts in the U.S. state of California nearly forced the closure of Fort Ross, a 19th-century trading post founded by Russian settlers. Now Fort Ross supporters are looking to Russia to help keep the historic site open and prospering. More |
