 RFE/RL Headlines 10/12/2010 7:49:27 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  Russian Investigative Journalists Explore KGB Legacy RFE/RL talks with two Russian authors about their new book on the real meaning and influence of Russia's KGB, and how the KGB will factor into the 2012 presidential elections. More  Voices Of Moldovan Prisoners -- In One Minute Several young prison inmates in Moldova have produced short films in which they share their experiences, fears, and hopes for a better a future. The teenagers, all detained at Lipcani prison, took part in a UNICEF-sponsored program called oneminutesjr, during which they learned to tell their personal stories through video. More  Medvedev Names New Rights Adviser Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has reportedly named a replacement two months after his chief human rights adviser quit following pointed criticism of Russia's rights practices. More  Iran, Pakistan 'Worst' Gender Offenders Iran and Pakistan score among the worst of 134 countries surveyed in a new report on gender inequalities issued by the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. More  In Balkans, Clinton Urges Peace, Reforms U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has begun a two-day Balkan tour, calling on Bosnia-Herzegovina to overcome ethnic divisions and embrace political reforms "or risk being left behind" for European Union and NATO integration. More  At Least 42 Dead In Ukraine Crash A deadly crash involving a train and a passenger train in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region has left dozens of people dead. More  Pakistani Army Launches NW Operation The operation was launched on October 11 in the Katlang area outside Mardan, the second-largest town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, and officials say the villages and mountainous areas are being combed for militants believed to have fled from the nearby Swat region. More  Moscow Cops Break Up Rally, Detain Dozens The demonstrators were said to be demanding a return from the current system for naming mayors and regional governors, in which the president nominates such officials, to popular elections for such posts. More  Kyrgyz Party Protests Vote Results The United Kyrgyzstan party says it will hold nationwide protests to challenge the official results of last weekend's elections after it failed to clear the threshold to get into parliament. More Anti-Semitic pictures and slogans have been found on the walls of a building housing the Jewish center in the central Russian city of Barnaul. More  Iran Inmates Seek Probe Of Vote Unrest Fourteen political prisoners in Tehran's Evin prison have issued a statement calling for the creation of an independent body to probe the violent unrest that followed last year's Iranian presidential election. More  Case Of Ukrainian Student's Death In Custody Sent To Court The presidential office's press service said that Prosecutor-General Oleksandr Medvedko told President Viktor Yanukovych in a meeting that the case of Ihor Indyl's death had been sent to the Kyiv City Court. More  Belarusian Opposition Movement Banned A Belarusian opposition movement headed by a declared presidential candidate has been de-registered by a Minsk court at the request of city authorities. More  Armed Robbers Stop Cars Near Tajik-Afghan Border Taxi drivers in eastern Tajikistan say they are using alternative routes after armed groups began attacking and robbing taxis on a highway near the Tajik-Afghan border. More Tajik students studying at Islamic universities abroad are complaining that Tajik authorities are pressuring their parents to persuade them to return home. More  Ethnic Uzbek Imam Slain In Russia An Islamic leader of Uzbek origin has been shot dead in the central Russian city of Tyumen. More  Iran Speaker Praises Armenia Ties Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani has praised his country's deepening relations with Armenia and described them as important for regional security during an official visit to Yerevan. More  Afghanistan Seeks To Further Reduce High Maternal Mortality Rate The Afghan Health Ministry says that although it has lowered the country's high maternal mortality rate in recent years, the country is still critically short of trained midwives. More  Another Tandem In Moscow? It's decision time in Moscow as the Kremlin inner sanctum draws closer to replacing Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov. More  Iran State Television: Where Beer Becomes Lemonade Iranian journalist Reza Valizadeh worked for some four years as a reporter, presenter, and producer with Iran’s state-controlled radio and television. He says changing dialogue in foreign movies and documentaries is common practice. Valizadeh -- who fled Iran following last year’s postelection crackdown -- talked about his experience working for Iran state broadcasting in an interview with Persian Letters. He also talks about his detention in 2007 over a blog post. More  Daghestan Faces Multiple Threats, But Not Civil War No Russian Federation subject is currently riven by a greater number of political, economic, and religious conflicts than Daghestan. Yet there is no consensus as to which of those conflicts poses the most immediate and serious threat to the cohesion of that multiethnic and economically polarized society, let alone how to combat them either individually or collectively. More  Daghestan's Jamaats Decimated But Defiant -- And Still Deadly In recent months, Daghestan has overtaken Ingushetia as the most unstable and violence-prone North Caucasus republic, with militant attacks and counterattacks by security forces occurring almost on a daily basis. More  Abkhaz Prosecutor Identifies Two Possible Motives For Mosque Shooting The Prosecutor-General's Office of Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia has identified two possible motives for the drive-by shooting in Gudauta in which one man was killed and two wounded as they left the building that serves as the local mosque. More  Windows Phone 7 And The Rise Of Global Mobile Microsoft's involvement (and the money they spent to get it right) is another reminder of the global rise of the smart phone and the mobile Internet. More  Commonwealth Games Offer Lessons For Russia, Brazil For future Olympic organizers, there is a valuable lesson to be learned from the 2010 Delhi public-relations fiasco and from the 2004 Athens games. Hosting these events is a double-edged sword, offering both opportunities and risks. More |