Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

RFE/RL Headlines 2/11/2011 6:05:15 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 Interview With NIle TV Anchorwoman Egyptian television anchor Shahira Amin's sudden resignation on February 3 from state-run Nile TV came as a shock amid the ongoing protests and highlighted the country's restrictive media environment. Amin was considered one of the most high-profile women in Egyptian public life, having spent the last 22 years with Nile TV and rising to become deputy director of the channel's English-language broadcasts. More   ‘Frightened, Demoralized, And Alone’ With Belarus’s KGB I don’t know how the KGB picked me out of the crowd. Our first conversation took place after lunch on a Wednesday in my office. That talk was civil enough. I didn’t hide the fact that I’d been on Independence Square during the postelection protests. Eventually, the agent promised that if I'd admit everything honestly, they’d look on my case favorably. After all, he said, it would be a shame to destroy the career of such a young and promising specialist. More   Interview: Nile TV Anchor Says 'Fear Barrier' Broken During the Cold War, the Soviet Union wielded considerable influence in the Middle East. But Russia made no official statement about the current uprising in Egypt until its sixth day. RFE/RL's Gregory Feifer spoke to Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the magazine "Russia In Global Affairs," about whether Russia has any role to play in the events. More   Google Search for 'Ghonim' Yields New Leader You can Google Wael Ghonim, but the results are inconclusive. The Google executive-turned-political activist was released on February 7 after being detained for nearly two weeks by Egyptian authorities. Following a manhunt for the missing executive that turned the Internet search giant on its head, Ghonim has emerged to take center stage in Egypt's rising opposition movement. More   News Mubarak Steps Down, Hands Control To Military Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has been driven from power by pro-democracy demonstrators, and the military is now in charge of the country. The announcement on state television that Mubarak would leave office after 18 days of mass protests was made by Vice President Omar Suleiman. More   Tajik Leader Orders Mosque Crackdown Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has instructed his security services to tighten control over religious education and mosques, which he said were often used to foment religious radicalism. More   Berlin Honors Jailed Iranian Director The Berlin film festival will honor dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who was sentenced to six years in prison in December for "propaganda against the system." More   From Our Bureaus Russian Police Gets Jail For Beating A policeman in central Russia was sentenced to 12 years in jail today for beating a journalist to death. More   Hundreds Condemn Iran Death Row Case Some 900 people have signed an open letter condemning the death sentence against an Iranian software developer accused of running adult websites, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports. More   Kyrgyz Officlal Fired In Language Flap The head of a state body for developing the Kyrgyz language has been sacked over a plan to de-Russify place names. More   Ukraine Journalist Missing Six Months Ukrainian journalists are appealing to the president to help solve the disappearance of a colleague six months ago. More   Kyrgyzstan Sends Expired Tomato Paste Packing Kyrgyzstan has sent thousands of tons of tomato paste with expired consumption dates back to China. More   The Blender Episode 5: Harrowing Account Of Being Detained In Cairo; Meet The Bloggers; The Language Of Love In Episode 5, Ron Synovitz talks with our Southwest Asia correspondent Robert Tait about his harrowing ordeal in Cairo last week. More