http://www.rferl.org Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty is an international news and broadcast organization serving Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Russia, the Middle East and Balkan countries http://www.rferl.org/img/rssLogo_RFERL.gif http://www.rferl.org en-US Copyright 2010 - RFE/RL, Inc. 60 Wed, 22 May 2013 03:46:14 +0000 Pangea CMS – RFE/RL The decision by Iran’s powerful Guardians Council to bar former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani from running in next month's presidential election paves the way for the country’s establishment to bring a loyalist to power. http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-rafsanjani-elections-/24993245.html http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-rafsanjani-elections-/24993245.html Tue, 21 May 2013 21:54:31 +0000 Iran Golnaz Esfandiari Officials say five Serbia citizens have returned home after spending 21 months in captivity in Libya. http://www.rferl.org/content/serbia-hostages-released-libya/24993205.html http://www.rferl.org/content/serbia-hostages-released-libya/24993205.html Tue, 21 May 2013 19:15:40 +0000 Serbia A new study says drone strikes in Pakistan's northwestern tribal areas are unlikely to eliminate Islamist extremist networks. http://www.rferl.org/content/drones-islamist-networks-new-study/24993202.html http://www.rferl.org/content/drones-islamist-networks-new-study/24993202.html Tue, 21 May 2013 19:09:00 +0000 Pakistan For months now, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has been treating his numerous social media followers to a blow-by-blow account of his life. Besides posting posting pictures of mundane activities such as a trip to the dentist's, Kadyrov has used the Instagram photo-sharing service to display images of him hanging out in a bathrobe with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and chatting with French actor and tax exile Gerard Depardieu. Now he has added another luminary to his collection of pix. http://www.rferl.org/content/chechnya-kadyrov-liz-hurley-depardieu/24993183.html http://www.rferl.org/content/chechnya-kadyrov-liz-hurley-depardieu/24993183.html Tue, 21 May 2013 18:19:44 +0000 Transmission http://www.rferl.org/content/chechnya-kadyrov-liz-hurley-depardieu/24993183.html#relatedInfoContainer Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and a close aide to outgoing President Mahmud Ahmadinejad have reportedly been barred from running in Iran's presidential election next month. http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-rafsanjani-mashaie-barred-election/24993142.html http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-rafsanjani-mashaie-barred-election/24993142.html Tue, 21 May 2013 17:28:22 +0000 Iran RFE/RL India has offered more aid to Afghanistan after international forces withdraw next year. http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-india-military-aid-karzai/24993121.html http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-india-military-aid-karzai/24993121.html Tue, 21 May 2013 17:03:22 +0000 Afghanistan Forget U.S. missile defense or Syria. What's really got Russia's foreign minister outraged is an alleged voting scandal at this year's Eurovision Song Contest. http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-azerbaijan-eurovision-votes/24993029.html http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-azerbaijan-eurovision-votes/24993029.html Tue, 21 May 2013 15:59:37 +0000 Transmission http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-azerbaijan-eurovision-votes/24993029.html#relatedInfoContainer The Kyrgyz government has decided to cancel the U.S.-Kyrgyz agreement on NATO's use of the Transit Center at Manas International Airport near Bishkek as of July 11, 2014. http://www.rferl.org/content/kyrgyzstan-manas-agreement-canceled/24992995.html http://www.rferl.org/content/kyrgyzstan-manas-agreement-canceled/24992995.html Tue, 21 May 2013 15:49:32 +0000 Kyrgyzstan A leading press freedom organization in Afghanistan has demanded an investigation into the killing of a journalist who was found dead after being missing for weeks. http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-journalist-murder-probe/24992970.html http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-journalist-murder-probe/24992970.html Tue, 21 May 2013 15:08:02 +0000 Afghanistan RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan Human Rights Watch says the number of Afghan women and girls jailed for "moral crimes" has risen by 50 percent in the past 18 months. http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-moral-crimes-women-girls/24992922.html http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-moral-crimes-women-girls/24992922.html Tue, 21 May 2013 14:32:24 +0000 Afghanistan Eight local men have gone on trial in Kazakhstan's western city of Atyrau on terrorism charges. http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakhstan-terrorism-trial/24992882.html http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakhstan-terrorism-trial/24992882.html Tue, 21 May 2013 14:07:20 +0000 Kazakhstan Millions of Iranians will flock to the polls on June 14 to vote for a successor to President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. RFE/RL looks at the vetting process that determines the final list of presidential candidates. http://www.rferl.org/content/explainer-iran-candidate-vetting-process/24992823.html http://www.rferl.org/content/explainer-iran-candidate-vetting-process/24992823.html Tue, 21 May 2013 13:19:04 +0000 Iran Frud Bezhan One of the many religious minorities whose plight is documented in the latest U.S. State Department report on religious freedom is the Ahmadiyya community, or the Ahmadis. http://www.rferl.org/content/pakistan-ahmadis-persecution-violence/24992861.html http://www.rferl.org/content/pakistan-ahmadis-persecution-violence/24992861.html Tue, 21 May 2013 12:41:09 +0000 Pakistan Daud Khattak, Frud Bezhan Authorities in Georgia have arrested former Georgian Prime Minister Ivane Merabishvili and former Health Minister Zurab Chiaberashvili. http://www.rferl.org/content/georgia-saakashvili-allies-arrested/24992767.html http://www.rferl.org/content/georgia-saakashvili-allies-arrested/24992767.html Tue, 21 May 2013 12:35:00 +0000 Georgia RFE/RL's Georgian Service The director of the independent Levada Center says the polling organization could be forced to close down after Russian prosecutors warned that it must register as a "foreign agent." http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-levada-center-foreign-agent/24992729.html http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-levada-center-foreign-agent/24992729.html Tue, 21 May 2013 12:05:46 +0000 Russia Tom Balmforth The Kyrgyz government has decided to cancel the U.S.-Kyrgyz agreement on NATO's use of a transit center at Manas International Airport near Bishkek as of July 2014. http://www.rferl.org/content/kyrgyzstan-manas-deal-us/24992711.html http://www.rferl.org/content/kyrgyzstan-manas-deal-us/24992711.html Tue, 21 May 2013 11:48:49 +0000 Kyrgyzstan The case of the 2006 killing of Russia's prominent investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya is set to be tried again in court. http://www.rferl.org/content/politkovskaya-trial-murder-new/24992635.html http://www.rferl.org/content/politkovskaya-trial-murder-new/24992635.html Tue, 21 May 2013 10:53:54 +0000 Russia Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili says the tiny Pacific island nation of Vanuatu has withdrawn its recognition of Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia. http://www.rferl.org/content/georgia-vanuatu-recognition-abkhazia/24992623.html http://www.rferl.org/content/georgia-vanuatu-recognition-abkhazia/24992623.html Tue, 21 May 2013 10:51:37 +0000 Georgia RFE/RL's Georgian Service In the U.S. state of Oklahoma, at least 24 people have been killed and scores of others injured by a huge tornado. The twister was nearly a kilometer wide and packed winds of up to 320 kilometers per hour. RFE/RL correspondent Antoine Blua talked to Dr. Liz Bentley, a member of Britain’s Royal Meteorological Society, to get the lowdown on this often devastating natural phenomenon. http://www.rferl.org/content/what-is-a-tornado-explainer/24992789.html http://www.rferl.org/content/what-is-a-tornado-explainer/24992789.html Tue, 21 May 2013 10:43:56 +0000 Features A man suspected of beating two journalists in Kyiv on May 18 has been arrested. http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-attack-journalists-suspect-arrested/24992580.html http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-attack-journalists-suspect-arrested/24992580.html Tue, 21 May 2013 10:30:18 +0000 Ukraine RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service In a corner of a park in the U.S. capital lies an unexpected memorial to some of Russia's greatest writers. Washington's Alley of Russian Poets, a short path lined with trees and plaques, recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. http://www.rferl.org/content/alley-russian-poets-washington/24992595.html http://www.rferl.org/content/alley-russian-poets-washington/24992595.html Tue, 21 May 2013 10:19:30 +0000 Features Richard Solash The Israeli military has said one of its patrols has been hit by gunfire from Syria on the Golan Heights. http://www.rferl.org/content/israel-syria-exchange-fire-border/24992548.html http://www.rferl.org/content/israel-syria-exchange-fire-border/24992548.html Tue, 21 May 2013 10:12:27 +0000 News Security officials say new attacks in Iraq have killed at least seven people and injured dozens. http://www.rferl.org/content/deadly-car-bombs-iraq/24992539.html http://www.rferl.org/content/deadly-car-bombs-iraq/24992539.html Tue, 21 May 2013 09:55:40 +0000 Iraq Afghan officials say a powerful roadside bomb has killed seven policemen in the country's western Herat Province. http://www.rferl.org/content/roadside-bomb-kills-afghan-policemen/24992517.html http://www.rferl.org/content/roadside-bomb-kills-afghan-policemen/24992517.html Tue, 21 May 2013 09:42:16 +0000 Afghanistan Four men have been arrested in Georgia in connection with the violence last week that disrupted a planned gay-rights demonstration in Tbilisi. http://www.rferl.org/content/georgia-men-arrested-antigay-violence/24992466.html http://www.rferl.org/content/georgia-men-arrested-antigay-violence/24992466.html Tue, 21 May 2013 09:01:06 +0000 Georgia President Barack Obama says Burmese President Thein Sein has pledged to release more political prisoners and institutionalize democratic reforms in that southeast Asian country. http://www.rferl.org/content/burma-us-sein-obama-meeting-washington/24992332.html http://www.rferl.org/content/burma-us-sein-obama-meeting-washington/24992332.html Tue, 21 May 2013 07:04:39 +0000 News Guatemala's highest court has overturned the genocide conviction of former dictator Efrain Rios Montt and ordered a new trial. http://www.rferl.org/content/guatemala-genocide-montt-appeal-retrial/24992277.html http://www.rferl.org/content/guatemala-genocide-montt-appeal-retrial/24992277.html Tue, 21 May 2013 06:11:01 +0000 News An Iranian diplomat says his government has approved a memorandum of understanding with Argentina on forming a "truth commission" to investigate the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires. http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-argentina-bombing-investigation-truth-commission/24992241.html http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-argentina-bombing-investigation-truth-commission/24992241.html Tue, 21 May 2013 05:42:05 +0000 Iran Afternoon Edition First Read # An interview with Bashar al-Assad Russia # "The Cold War Heats Up in Syria" - Julia Ioffe, "The New Republic" RFE/RL Target Region # Yulia Tymoshenko's prison diaries are going online # "Metternich in Baghdad" - Ramzy Mardini, "Foreign Policy" Of Interest # 3-D printed food may become an actual thing # How Google plans to save Google+  U.S. Politics/Foreign Policy # A nice little window into PAC ... http://www.rferl.org/content/rundown-press-review/24992183.html http://www.rferl.org/content/rundown-press-review/24992183.html Tue, 21 May 2013 03:54:43 +0000 The Rundown http://www.rferl.org/content/rundown-press-review/24992183.html#relatedInfoContainer German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle hailed the April 19 agreement as “historic,” but called for “concrete steps” to implement it. http://www.rferl.org/content/serbia-kosovo/24992145.html http://www.rferl.org/content/serbia-kosovo/24992145.html Tue, 21 May 2013 03:22:04 +0000 News U.S. President Barack Obama has pledged urgent government help for the victims of a massive tornado that smashed through a town in the south-central U.S. state of Oklahoma. http://www.rferl.org/content/us-oklahoma-tornado/24992137.html http://www.rferl.org/content/us-oklahoma-tornado/24992137.html Tue, 21 May 2013 03:14:45 +0000 News RFE/RL The White House says President Barack Obama has expressed the United States' concern over Hizballah's involvement in Syria in a telephone call with Lebanese President Michel Sleiman. http://www.rferl.org/content/syria-us-concerned-hizballah-involvement/24992078.html http://www.rferl.org/content/syria-us-concerned-hizballah-involvement/24992078.html Mon, 20 May 2013 19:36:02 +0000 News The spokesman for Iran's Guardians Council -- the oversight body that vets all the country's election candidates -- has said that physically weak candidates will not be allowed to run. The comments appear to be a reference to the age of 78-year-old presidential hopeful Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who is considered a challenge to Iran’s establishment. http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-rafsanjani-allowed-run/24992070.html http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-rafsanjani-allowed-run/24992070.html Mon, 20 May 2013 19:10:36 +0000 Iran Golnaz Esfandiari Pakistan's prime minister-designate, Nawaz Sharif, has called for a dialogue with hard-line Taliban militants waging a war against the government. http://www.rferl.org/content/pakistan-prime-minister-sharif-taliban-talks/24992044.html http://www.rferl.org/content/pakistan-prime-minister-sharif-taliban-talks/24992044.html Mon, 20 May 2013 18:08:30 +0000 Pakistan If Vladimir Putin ever names Aleksei Kudrin premier, we’ll know one of two things happened : Either Putin changed course or Kudrin sold out. http://www.rferl.org/content/putins-game-and-kudrins-choice/24992043.html http://www.rferl.org/content/putins-game-and-kudrins-choice/24992043.html Mon, 20 May 2013 18:03:06 +0000 The Power Vertical http://www.rferl.org/content/putins-game-and-kudrins-choice/24992043.html#relatedInfoContainer eligious freedom is on the decline in many parts of the world, according to a new report from the U.S. State Department, which calls the trend “worrying.” http://www.rferl.org/content/us-report-religious-freedom-decline/24992030.html http://www.rferl.org/content/us-report-religious-freedom-decline/24992030.html Mon, 20 May 2013 17:46:21 +0000 News RFE/RL Russia's counterterrorism agency says its forces have foiled a terror attack on Moscow. http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-foiled-terror-attack/24991950.html http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-foiled-terror-attack/24991950.html Mon, 20 May 2013 16:39:15 +0000 Russia New York film buffs can get a taste of Eurasia this week as the New York Eurasian Film festival opens. Among the offerings -- a film touting Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev’s role in spearheading "green development" as a solution to a “worldwide crisis.” The producer of the film is none other than his youngest daughter, Aliya Nazarbaeva. http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakhstan-eurasian-film-festival/24991863.html http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakhstan-eurasian-film-festival/24991863.html Mon, 20 May 2013 15:23:09 +0000 Transmission http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakhstan-eurasian-film-festival/24991863.html#relatedInfoContainer Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki says he will alter his country's security strategy after a wave of attacks killed scores of people across the country on May 20. http://www.rferl.org/content/iraq-deadly-bombing-wave/24991695.html http://www.rferl.org/content/iraq-deadly-bombing-wave/24991695.html Mon, 20 May 2013 13:28:10 +0000 Iraq RFE/RL A museum of the Stalin-era prison camp system in central Kazakhstan has given visitors a night-time tour, where they were "treated" to prison meals and a performance of mock interrogations. http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakhstan-gulag-tour/24991694.html http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakhstan-gulag-tour/24991694.html Mon, 20 May 2013 13:27:05 +0000 Kazakhstan Yelena Weber, Antoine Blua Russia's only independent polling agency says it may have to close after prosecutors described its opinion research as "political activity." http://www.rferl.org/content/article/24991664.html http://www.rferl.org/content/article/24991664.html Mon, 20 May 2013 13:09:03 +0000 Russia The rapid withdrawal over the weekend of proposed legislation to expand protections for Afghan women has highlighted obstacles facing elected representatives and others who want to bolster institutional protections for a vulnerable segment of society. http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-women-violence-legislation/24991658.html http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-women-violence-legislation/24991658.html Mon, 20 May 2013 13:00:54 +0000 Gandhara http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-women-violence-legislation/24991658.html#relatedInfoContainer The Moscow City Court has upheld a prior court's decision not to investigate the alleged kidnapping of opposition activist Leonid Razvozzhayev. http://www.rferl.org/content/moscow-court-denies-appeal-investigate-razvozzhayev-abduction-claim/24991640.html http://www.rferl.org/content/moscow-court-denies-appeal-investigate-razvozzhayev-abduction-claim/24991640.html Mon, 20 May 2013 12:56:56 +0000 Russia RFE/RL A court in Pakistan has granted former military ruler Pervez Musharraf bail in a case related to the murder of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. http://www.rferl.org/content/pakistan-musharraf-bhutto-bail/24991604.html http://www.rferl.org/content/pakistan-musharraf-bhutto-bail/24991604.html Mon, 20 May 2013 12:34:58 +0000 Pakistan Two car bombs have exploded with deadly effect in front of the Court Bailiffs' Directorate in Makhachkala, the capital of Russia's North Caucasus republic of Daghestan. http://www.rferl.org/content/daghestan-bombings/24991602.html http://www.rferl.org/content/daghestan-bombings/24991602.html Mon, 20 May 2013 12:30:33 +0000 North Caucasus RFE/RL Sixty-one Ukrainian lawmakers have signed a petition urging Kyiv's mayor to ban a gay-pride parade in the Ukrainian capital scheduled for May 25. http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-gay-rights/24991576.html http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-gay-rights/24991576.html Mon, 20 May 2013 12:07:54 +0000 Ukraine Pakistani officials say gunmen attacked a polio vaccination team in the country's northwest, killing a policeman who was escorting the health workers. http://www.rferl.org/content/pakistan-polio-attack/24991562.html http://www.rferl.org/content/pakistan-polio-attack/24991562.html Mon, 20 May 2013 11:50:16 +0000 Pakistan The Week Ahead is a detailed listing of key events of the coming week affecting RFE/RL's broadcast region. http://www.rferl.org/content/calendar_of_events/24991545.html http://www.rferl.org/content/calendar_of_events/24991545.html Mon, 20 May 2013 11:06:25 +0000 Transmission http://www.rferl.org/content/calendar_of_events/24991545.html#relatedInfoContainer The May 19 voting took place under tight security in 43 polling stations in Karachi's NA-250 constituency, one day after the killing of a PTI provincial vice president, Zahra Shahid Hussain, outside her home. http://www.rferl.org/content/pakistan-pti-khan-wins-karachi-vote/24991449.html http://www.rferl.org/content/pakistan-pti-khan-wins-karachi-vote/24991449.html Mon, 20 May 2013 11:01:51 +0000 Pakistan The South Korean Defense Ministry said the North's missile was fired early on May 20, although it was unclear what type of missile was used. http://www.rferl.org/content/korea-missile-test/24991374.html http://www.rferl.org/content/korea-missile-test/24991374.html Mon, 20 May 2013 10:21:04 +0000 News