 RFE/RL Headlines 11/30/2009 A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| News  Czechs Reveal Iraqi Plot To Attack RFE/RL The Czech intelligence service says in 2000 it detected, and ultimately foiled, a plot by Iraq to launch an attack against RFE/RL's headquarters in Prague. More  Danish, Dutch Populist Parties Want Minaret Referendums It's been criticized as an expression of prejudice at odds with European values of tolerance. But on November 29, Swiss voters in a referendum approved a ban on the building of minarets. And now populist parties in Denmark and the Netherlands say they want referendums, too. More  Russia Unveils Proposal For European Security Treaty The Kremlin has published a draft of a security pact it says should replace Cold War-era institutions such as NATO. The release of the text comes more than a year after Russia began pushing the issue, which Western countries have so far largely ignored. More  Demjanjuk Goes On Trial In Germany The trial of 89-year-old John Demjanjuk, accused of helping to kill nearly 28,000 Jews during World War II, opens in Munich today, in what is expected to be Germany’s last major Nazi-era criminal case. More  Kyiv Officials Say Flu No Longer Epidemic In City Health officials in Kyiv announced today that the flu epidemic that has plagued the city for the past four weeks has ended, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports. More  Prosecutor Asks For Eight-Year Jail Sentence For Former Kyrgyz Minister The prosecutor in the trial of former Kyrgyz Defense Minister Ismail Isakov has asked for an eight-year jail sentence, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports. More  Russia's HIV/AIDS Cases Rise 10 Percent A Year The number of HIV/AIDS patients in Russia has increased at an average rate of about 10 percent in recent years, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Protest Against Kyrgyz Utility Hikes Refused Over Flu Fears Officials in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh say they refused permission for a protest march because of worries about the spread of swine flu, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports. More  Moscow Mayor Wins Lawsuit Against Opposition Leader Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov has won a lawsuit against Boris Nemtsov, the co-chairman of the opposition Solidarity movement, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Armenian Leader's Lofty Words Fall On Deaf Ears Even as Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian gave a speech decrying the stifling of internal dissent within parties for the harm it does to the political ciulture of a country, his own party members rushed to unanimously reelect him as leader -- some even couldn't wait for his nomination. More  'Covered In Blood' Russian authorities are hunting for clues in the bombing that derailed a Moscow-St. Petersburg train, killing 26 people and wounding more than a hundred. One survivor recalls her ordeal amid the death and destruction. More  No Quick Fix For Moldova's Political Crisis Moldova's political elite should resist the temptation to throw together a quick constitutional reform to get through the current crisis. Fixing the dysfunctional political system must be done in an atmosphere that rises above the political fray of the moment. More |