 RFE/RL Headlines 30.06.2009 A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| News  Iraqi Oil Auction Draws Strong Foreign Interest Iraq is set to award foreign oil companies with contracts to develop eight of its massive oil and gas fields. More than 30 oil majors from around the world have joined the bidding process, despite the security and technical difficulties which they may encounter in trying to revive Iraq's energy sector. More  Azerbaijani Parliament Drops Proposed NGO Restrictions The Azerbaijani parliament has adopted a law on nongovernmental organizations, but eliminated several restrictive amendments that were opposed by NGO officials and international human rights groups, RFE/RL's Azerbaijan Service reports. More Editors of a leading Moldovan website say the government is trying to shut it down ahead of elections scheduled for July 29, RFE/RL's Moldovan Service reports. More  Russian Opposition Activist Dies In Prison A member of the opposition movement Other Russia has died in prison after reportedly falling from a window, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Kazakh Reporter Cites Death Threats After Prostitution Article The article Zhanara Davletova thinks spawned the death threats includes a suggestion that a local hotel owner runs a brothel out of his hotel, and the claim that local police are taking hush money to cover up the illegal activities. More  Azerbaijani, Russian Energy Officials Sign Gas Deals One agreement, signed by Russian gas giant Gazprom's Aleksei Miller and State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) President Rovnag Abdullayev, defines the basic terms of gas deliveries from Azerbaijan to Russia under a memorandum signed on March 29. More Baku Activists Protest Amendments To NGO Bill Police officers failed to identify themselves, instead removing and tearing down protesters' signs and placards that read "No to Undemocratic Law" and "Recognize our Right to Unite." More  Kyrgyz Forces Kill Fourth Suspected Militant A suspected Islamic militant was has been killed by Kyrgyz special forces in southern Kyrgyzstan, the fourth since June 27, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports. More 'The Iranian People Are Starved And Helpless' E-mails and voicemails sent to Radio Farda, and postings on Radio Farda's Facebook page. More  You Don’t Carry Tear Gas When You Go To A Party Iranian state television has aired interviews with some members of the Basij force who have said they were beaten up by protesters in Iran's postelection violence. More  Russian Investigative Journalist Dies Of Head Wounds The editor in chief of an independent newspaper in southern Russia has died from injuries he sustained in an attack in April. More One of the many to be arrested in the Iranian government's crackdown is human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei. More  Russia Angered At Armenia's Saakashvili Award Armenian nationalists and members of the Russian parliament are up in arms about Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian's awarding of the country's Medal of Honor to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili last week. More  South Ossetian Authorities Target Opposition Financier In the month that has elapsed since the flawed parliamentary elections that yielded a new legislature subservient to President Eduard Kokoity, the South Ossetian authorities have taken further steps aimed at bolstering his position. More  Circassians Fear Adygeya May Become The Next Nalchik Participants at the congress Maikop of the Circassian public movement Adyghe Khase have expressed concern that ongoing police reprisals against young Muslims in towns close to the administrative border with Krasnodar Krai could drive some of the victims to join the Islamic underground. More Kashgar: Life In An Ancient Silk Road City Kashgar is an ancient Silk Road trading hub located more than 4,000 kilometers west of Beijing, in China's autonomous Xinjiang region. Its old city has survived, and remains an important Islamic cultural center for the Uyghurs, the Turkic ethnic group living in Xinjiang. But Kashgar's rich Central Asian heritage is being threatened by an ambitious government redevelopment plan that some say has a hidden agenda. Here's a look at life today amid Kashgar's old streets. More  Russia, Azerbaijan Make Energy Breakthrough A deal to restart the flow of Azerbaijani gas to Russia, beginning in January 2010, represents a breakthrough as both Moscow and the European Union court Baku in hopes of tapping its vast gas deposits to fuel favored pipeline projects to Europe. More  'Chaotic’ Czech EU Presidency Comes To Close When it comes to excitement, the EU's rotating presidency doesn't usually spring to mind. But the past six months, under the leadership of the Czech Republic, has been anything but boring. Prague's presidency has been punctuated by offending art works, inflammatory remarks, and, well, embarrassing nude photos. More  All Bets Are Off An industry is closing up shop in Russia. At the stroke of midnight, all the casinos and slot-machine arcades across the country will close, and gambling will be permitted only in four Las Vegas-style zones decreed by the Kremlin. The only problem is there is nothing in these zones yet. More  What McChrystal Learned From Afghan 'Listening Tour' U.S. General Stanley McChrystal recently assumed his position as the commander of both the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and all the U.S. forces in Afghanistan. In an exclusive interview with RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan correspondent Hamid Mohmand, he said that the "fight is for the Afghan people, it's not with the Afghan people." More  Wexler: 'American-Russian Relations Are Not A Zero-Sum Game' U.S. Congressman Robert Wexler (Democrat, Florida) was in the Czech Republic this week to attend an international conference on the assets of Holocaust victims. During his time in the Czech capital, Prague, Wexler visited RFE/RL's headquarters, where he sat down for a broad-ranging interview with correspondent Gregory Feifer. More  In War-Torn Gori, Survivors Pick Up Pieces Georgia's Gori region endured the worst of last year's Russia-Georgia war as hundreds lost their homes and scores were killed. As Russia holds massive military exercises nearby, survivors worry that a new conflict could be on the way. More  China's Silk Road City Of Kashgar Facing Bulldozers Kashgar's old city has survived, and remains an important Islamic cultural center for the Uyghurs, the Turkic ethnic group living in Xinjiang. But Kashgar's rich Central Asian heritage is being threatened by an ambitious government redevelopment plan that some say has a hidden agenda. More  Commentary: Looking Beyond Georgia's Political Crisis Former Georgian parliament speaker Nino Burjanadze argues that in addition to the global financial crisis, her countrymen must contend with a total absence of accountability, the nonexistence of democratic checks and balances, and extravagant budget spending, all of which severely undermine the prospects for steady economic growth in the next few years. More |
