 RFE/RL Headlines 8/6/2010 7:42:56 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. |
| Features  Kyrgyz Envoy To U.S. Says Interethnic Reconciliation Could Take Decades Arslan Anarbaev has been the interim head of the Kyrgyz Embassy in Washington as charge d'affaires since ex-President Kurmanbek Bakiev was ousted in April. In Kyrgyzstan, he served in the governments of both Bakiev and his predecessor, Askar Akaev. Anarbaev sat down with RFE/RL correspondent Richard Solash recently to talk about a range of issues in his country – from the presence of U.S. and Russian bases to lingering ethnic tensions in the south and the critical time Kyrgyzstan is facing, both now and in the coming months. More  Zardari, Cameron Pledge Antiterror Cooperation Pakistan and Britain have pledged to further strengthen mutual ties after a meeting between British Prime Minister David Cameron and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari today. More Iran's deputy culture minister reportedly has said that Iranian filmmakers who raise critical questions about life in Iran are guilty of "cultural betrayal" that is "worse than espionage." More  U.S. Report Sees Increase In Number Of Americans Joining Terrorist Groups The latest edition of the U.S. State Department's annual "Country Reports on Terrorism" documents global terrorist attacks and activities from 2009. Among the major developments were an increase in the number of U.S. citizens who have been recruited as operatives for foreign terrorist groups, and worldwide terrorist attacks falling to their lowest level in five years. More  Jailed Kyrgyz Rights Activist Transferred To Bishkek A jailed Kyrgyz human rights activist of Uzbek origin was transferred from a jail in the southern Jalal-Abad region to a detention center in Bishkek this week. More  Azerbaijani Exclave Cracks Down On Street Vendors Police in the Azerbaijani exclave of Naxcivan detained some 30 women this week for selling food on the streets in violation of health regulations. More  Former Armenian Officials Jailed For Accepting Bribes Two former senior Armenian Environment Ministry officials have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms for corruption. More  'Progress Made' On Iraq Coalition Deal Iraqi politicians say the two blocs that won the most votes in the March 7 parliamentary elections are edging closer to a deal to form a new government. More  Tajikistan Sends Afghan Prisoners Home Dozens of jailed Afghan prisoners have been transferred from Tajikistan to Afghanistan as a result of an agreement between the two countries. More  Detained Belarusian Investigator Hospitalized A jailed senior state prosecutor who was investigating corruption among State Security Committee (KGB) officials has been sent to a KGB hospital for an examination. More  Kyrgyz Ombudsman Slams Demo Arrests Kyrgyz Ombudsman Tursunbek Akun has criticized police actions against antigovernment demonstrators in and around the capital, Bishkek, on August 5. More  Poland, Russia, And Visa-Free Travel Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski says Warsaw would consider a bilateral agreement with Moscow allowing visa-free travel for people living in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad if he fails to convince the European Union to abolish the existing visa regime. More Some 100 protesters gathered in front of the mayor's office in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh to demand the immediate reopening of the city's central market. More  Afghanistan Graduates Another Class Of Policewomen Officials in Kabul have announced the graduation of more policewomen as Afghanistan bids to increase the female presence in its security forces. More  Tajikistan Rejects Group's Appeal Tajikistan's Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by 18 members of the banned Islamic group Jamaat ut-Tabligh seeking to have their prison terms reduced. More A group of well-known Russian cultural figures has written an open letter to protest the arrest of Russian rap artist Noize MC. More  A Cri De Coeur For Kyrgyzstan Two French academics -- Bayram Balci and Pierre Chuvin, both directors of the French Institute for Central-Asian Studies -- issue an impassioned call in today's "Le Monde" for the European Union to get involved in Kyrgyzstan "before further murderous rampages" take place there. More  Following U-Turn, Umarov Turns On Udugov Two days after publicly disavowing as "completely falsified" the video clip in which he announced his resignation, self-styled emir of the North Caucasus Doku Umarov has ordered the "temporary suspension" of Movladi Udugov as director of the North Caucasus emirate's press service. A statement accused Udugov of "violating discipline" by the unauthorized posting on the website of materials "not intended for public distribution." More  The Little War That Actually Didn't Shake The World What were the results of the Russia-Georgia war of early August 2008? At first it seemed as if the war would overturn everything in the region and create a new global reality. But nothing of the sort actually happened. More |