 RFE/RL Headlines 2/1/2010 10:03:59 PM A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| News  Georgia Satellite Channel Claims Kremlin Pressure Took It Off The Air Georgia's Russian-language television channel, First Caucasian, says it is being taken off the air by its France-based satellite provider due to pressure from the Kremlin. More  Riot Police Complain Of Corruption As Demos Rock Russia Just as a wave of demonstrations is sweeping Russia, an elite battalion of OMON riot police in Moscow has appealed to President Dmitry Medvedev, complaining of rampant abuse among police commanders. More Bosnian police have arrested a Muslim wartime commander on suspicion of killing more than 20 Croat civilians and prisoners of war during the Muslim-Croat war in 1993, the state prosecutor's office said. More  Turkmen Leader Visiting France Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov is scheduled to meet with his French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy, in Paris today, as part of an official visit that has drawn criticism from rights groups. More  Bomber Kills 41, Wounds 106 Shi'ite Pilgrims In Iraq A female suicide bomber has killed at least 41 people and wounded 106 others in an attack on Shi'ite pilgrims in the Iraqi capital, an Interior Ministry source said. More  Ingushetia Attack Kills Police Officer Attackers fired grenades today at the police headquarters in the Russian province of Ingushetia, which borders Chechnya, killing one officer, officials said. More  Iran Kicks Off Khomeini Ceremonies Iran is marking the 31st anniversary of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's return from exile in Paris, an event that triggered the 1979 Islamic revolution. More Officials from Russia and the United States are scheduled to resume talks today in Geneva on a new nuclear arms reduction treaty. More  U.S. To Resume Haiti Medevac Flights The U.S. military is set to resume evacuation flights to the United States for critically injured Haitian earthquake victims. More  Kyrgyz Protesters Seek Protection For Migrants In Kazakhstan About 100 protesters in downtown Bishkek today demanded that the government do more to protect Kyrgyz migrant workers' rights in neighboring Kazakhstan, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports. More  Iraq Probes Unreliable Bomb Detectors Iraq has created two investigative teams to look into reports that a controversial bomb-detection device used by Iraqi security forces is ineffective, RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq (RFI) reports. More  Kazakh Official Claims China Deal Corrupt Fugitive Kazakh businessman Mukhtar Ablyazov has urged Chinese authorities to investigate a Kazakh-Chinese oil and gas deal that he claims was corrupt, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports. More  OSJI: UN Should Review Miscarriage Of Justice In Kazakhstan The Open Society Justice Initiative is urging the UN Human Rights Committee to review the case of imprisoned Kazakh human rights defender Yevgeny Zhovtis. More  Russia's NATO Ambassador Tweets Holiday Snaps Russia's ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, has obviously got himself a smart phone for Christmas. Check out his recent Twitpics from the Musee d'Armes in Liege. More  Guest Post: Don't Bother With U.S.-Russia Working Group The first meeting of the U.S.-Russia Civil Society Working Group, set up to reset relations between the two countries, was held in Washington on January 27. Afterwards, RFE/RL spoke to Michael McFaul, one of the two co-chairs of the group. More  Fish Makes You Weak More evidence China is trying to become the new America. Here's a graph from a "Washington Post" article on China's rise and its leaders' new assertive tone: More  Is Ramzan Kadyrov's Star On The Wane? Just a few months ago, Ramzan Kadyrov's position as Chechen Republic head appeared unassailable. He was even named in December as a possible candidate for the post of federal official responsible for the entire North Caucasus. But since the start of the year, he has incurred veiled criticism from both Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. In addition, he has been the subject of damaging allegations from media outlets both in Russia and abroad. More  Iranian Regime 'Paralyzed From Within' Abolfazl Eslami, a former career diplomat who fled Iran, says the ruling establishment faces opposition even from its own diplomats and security forces. More  Russia's Historic Hammer-And-Sickle Building Faces Wrecking Ball Architectural preservationists in Russia are campaigning to save a unique Constructivist building in the shape of a hammer and sickle, which is threatened with demolition to make way for new development. The fight to save the Fabrika Kukhnya, or Kitchen Factory, in Samara comes as many Russian cities are facing the destruction of historic buildings in favor of elite construction projects. More  Former Ukrainian President Says Political System Dysfunctional Five years after he left Ukraine's presidency in disgrace following the Orange Revolution, Leonid Kuchma speaks out about his legacy and political developments in his country. More  Protests, Trials Continue More |