Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Where's The Best Place To Live? Prosperity Index Offers A Few Surprises

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:48:40 +0000

What's your idea of the best place in which to live? Many people would probably answer that palm trees and a gleaming beach would be a good start to their idea of earthly paradise. But in real life, the country which scores best on a whole range of economic and quality-of-life issues is a good deal colder. It's Finland. That's what the 2009 Prosperity Index issued by the British-based think tank the Legatum Institute finds.

Frankfurt Book Fair Opens Amid Controversy Over Guest Of Honor

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:39:34 +0000

The world's biggest book fair is under way at Frankfurt in Germany, with this year's event highlighting Chinese publishers, authors and artists. Hundreds of Chinese publishing houses are attending the fair, many of which have translated titles into English or German for the occasion. There's a certain tension in the air, because the delegation from Beijing wants to present its own vision of Chinese literature, while some others have different ideas.

Four Hundred Years Ago, Galileo's Telescope Changed The World

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 11:44:50 +0000

On this day 400 years ago, the great astronomer and thinker Galileo Galilei presented his telescope to a world that had no idea how this piece of technology would change perceptions of man's place in the universe. For using this telescope caused Galileo to advance the theory that the Earth was not the center point of creation.

Poland Marks 20th Anniversary Of First Postcommunist Government

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:21:34 +0000

Poland today marks the 20th anniversary of its first postcommunist government -- a key event in the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. The government, headed by activist and journalist Tadeusz Mazowiecki, was formed after the Solidarity union won a massive victory in elections the previous June -- the country’s first partly-free vote since World War II. In December 1990, Solidarity leader Lech Walesa became president.

Events Being Held To Mark Day That Iron Curtain Began To Rip

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:48:42 +0000

Commemorations are taking place today to mark the 20th anniversary of an event on the Austro-Hungarian border that was seen as leading toward the fall of the Iron Curtain between East and West. On August 19, 1989, hundreds of East Germans were able to escape from Hungary into Austria when Hungarian authorities did nothing to stop them. The escape occurred during a "Pan-European Picnic" that had been organized by Hungarian opposition parties near the city of Sopron on the ...

Russia Draws Closer To Latin American Leftists

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:05:26 +0000

Russia and Nicaragua have signed an agreement on visa-free travel between the two countries, in Moscow’s latest move to increase its ties in Latin America.

U.S. Drive For Middle East Peace Gathers Pace

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:38:37 +0000

The United States has committed four top officials to the effort to secure a comprehensive peace deal in the Middle East. This is the first time that such a concentration of U.S. diplomatic "firepower" has been applied simultaneously to the region's intractable problems.

Russian Patriarch Visits Kyiv, But Motives Questioned

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 12:39:50 +0000

Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, has begun a 10-day visit to Ukraine. But some in Ukraine suspect the visit is not so much pastoral as aimed at boosting Russian political influence in their country.

Tatar Writer, Angering President, Lands In Court

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:47:30 +0000

Tatar writer and journalist Irek Murtazin has gone on trial in Kazan on charges brought by Tatarstan President Mintimer Shaimiev, which include disseminating false information about the head of state. A former spokesman for Shaimiev, Murtazin has several times fallen afoul of the authorities for his writings. Before the proceedings got under way, he told RFE/RL that he doubted he could receive an unbiased trial.

Swine Flu, A Quiet Enemy, Bides Its Time

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:40:08 +0000

The H1N1 strain of influenza, popularly known as swine flu, is continuing to spread around the globe in an unspectacular but persistent way. Experts estimate that more than 1 million people have been infected, although fewer than 500 are confirmed to have died. One of the most troubling aspects of the situation is that no specific vaccine against it has yet been developed, and even when it is, distributing it around the world will be a massive and slow undertaking.

British Government On Defensive Over Afghan War Effort

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:27:40 +0000

As British casualties in the Afghan conflict rise steeply, Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government is being subjected to scathing criticism from the opposition for its alleged lack of strategy and its failure to properly equip the British troops. It's not clear whether British public opinion will sustain these casualty levels for long.

China's Uyghurs -- A Minority In Their Own Land?

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:13:15 +0000

The Uyghurs of western China are an ethnic Turkic people who are by tradition Muslim, and who feel more kinship with the peoples of Central Asia than with the Han Chinese -- the communist state's dominant population. After decades of Han immigration into their region, the Uyghurs are close to being a minority in their own land.

Israeli President's Azerbaijan Trip Breaks New Ground

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:46:41 +0000

As part of a strategy by Israel to improve relations with moderate, secular countries of the Islamic world, President Shimon Peres is visiting Azerbaijan on June 28.

Iraq Bombing Meant To Rattle Authorities As U.S. Pulls Out

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:06:22 +0000

A major bomb blast in Baghdad has killed at least 69 people and injured more than a hundred others. The bombing is the most serious in a series of explosions to hit Iraq in the run-up to the withdrawal next week of U.S. troops from Iraqi cities. The attacks on Shi'ite targets appear aimed at provoking new sectarian strife with the minority Sunni community.

NATO A Magnet For Spies Over Decades

Tue, 05 May 2009 16:29:49 +0000

NATO's decision to expel two Russian diplomats on spying charges is only the latest espionage incident in a long line of such cases. The Western alliance was a natural target of Soviet espionage efforts during the Cold War, and Russia has evidently inherited that interest. And of course, the West has had its own agents working for the benefit of the alliance.

U.S. Envoy Mitchell In Israel For First Talks With New Government

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:17:13 +0000

The U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, is in Israel for his first meetings with the new government since it took office last month. Mitchell is due to meet rightist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has not endorsed the goal of creating a Palestinian state.

Rocket Launch, Reelection Boost Kim Jong Il's Standing

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:05:10 +0000

The North Korean parliament has reelected supreme leader Kim Jong Il as Chairman of the National Defense Commission, thereby confirming his control on the levers of power in the reclusive communist state.

Sudan Ousts Aid Agencies Following ICC Warrant For President

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:52:06 +0000

Sudan's president has ordered 10 leading foreign aid agencies to leave the country after the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant against him for alleged war crimes in Darfur. The withdrawal of the operating licenses for the aid agencies will have a major impact on tens of thousands of impoverished Sudanese, and appears to be one of the unintended consequences of the ICC's action.

Prime Minister's Bloc Wins In Baghdad, Southern Iraq

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:13:40 +0000

According to preliminary official results in Iraq's provincial elections, the State of Law alliance of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has won in the country's two biggest cities, Baghdad and Al-Basrah. The secular, national-unity-oriented bloc appears to have taken support away from Shi'ite religious-oriented and pro-Iranian parties.

Obama Orders Halt To Guantanamo Trials

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 08:09:27 +0000

Hours after taking office on January 20, U.S. President Barack Obama ordered military prosecutors in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals to ask for a 120-day halt in all pending cases.

Turkish, Armenian Intellectuals Seek New Ways To Bring Genocide Issue Into Open

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 11:36:02 +0000

Intellectuals in both Turkey and Armenia have taken steps to bring a new openness to the debate about the mass deaths of ethnic Armenians in Turkey during World War I. Yerevan says the slaughter of Armenians by Ottoman Turks is genocide, a definition that Turkey totally rejects. Now, several hundred Turkish intellectuals are personally apologizing to the Armenian nation, while Armenians are appealing to Ankara to rethink its refusal to use that one key word.

Gagarin Space Memorabilia Goes To Auction At Sotheby's

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:56:37 +0000

Historic documents from the earliest days of the Soviet space program are to go under the hammer at the exclusive Sotheby's auction house in New York. They include a report on man's first flight in space by cosmonaut Yury Gagarin in 1961, which contains the first description of the Earth as seen from space.

Aleksy, Orthodox Patriarch Of All Russia, Laid To Rest

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 07:55:21 +0000

In Moscow, the first Russian Orthodox patriarch of post-Soviet times, Aleksy II, has been laid to rest. The patriarch of Moscow and All Russia died on December 5 at the age of 79 after guiding the world's biggest Orthodox church through two decades of revival following its years in the wilderness under communism.

Some 100 States Signing Cluster-Bomb Ban, But Big Powers Absent

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:02:27 +0000

Representatives from more than 100 governments have begun signing a document binding their countries not to make, stockpile, or use cluster bombs.

Medvedev In Caracas To Build Ties With U.S. Critic Chavez

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 11:06:20 +0000

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is due to arrive in Venezuela, the latest stop of a Latin American tour that's already taken him to Brazil. His arrival comes a day after a fleet of Russian naval ships arrived in Venezuela to take part in joint military exercises. It's Russia's first such deployment in the Caribbean since the Cold War.

End Of An Era As Last Yugo Car Rolls Off Production Line

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:12:53 +0000

The Yugo, the car everyone -- or almost everyone -- loved to hate, is no more. The last one has rolled of the production line at the Zastava factory in the Serbian town of Kragujevac.

Russian President Visits Armenia

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 12:20:37 +0000

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev begins a two-day official visit to Armenia on October 20, his first trip to the small Caucasus state since he became president.

How Do Experts Estimate The Size Of Oil And Gas Fields?

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 09:49:16 +0000

Turkmenistan is in the news this week after confirming that its South Yolotan-Osman natural-gas field is among the five biggest in the world. That assertion is based on a survey done by an independent British firm.

Somali Pirates Continue To Hold Ukrainian Ship

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 12:12:04 +0000

Pirates are holding a Ukrainian-owned ship loaded with Russian tanks off the East African coast, as U.S. warships and helicopters circle the vessel and trap the pirates.

Nicaragua Recognizes Georgian Rebel Regions

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:56:26 +0000

He's back. Daniel Ortega, the aging Sandinista revolutionary who was long a thorn in Washington's side, is showing some of his old spark.

Anglican Leaders' Summit Unlikely To Repair Rift

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:01:43 +0000

While church leaders prepare for a once-in-a-decade conference, some conservatives are boycotting the meeting as divisions deepen over liberal interpretations of the faith.

Muslim School Controversy In Australia Highlights Assimilation Difficulties

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:41:15 +0000

Local objections to a planned Islamic school in an Australia town reveal the social tensions that accompany the country's growing Muslim population.

Anglicans Perilously Close To Split Over Gay Clergy

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:28:30 +0000

The Anglican church communion, numbering some 77 million people worldwide, is facing the possibility of a complete fracture over the question of gay clergy. A conference of conservative churchmen is now going on in Jerusalem in which they may decide that they can no longer live under the same roof as their liberal colleagues. The conference comes just weeks before the spiritual head of the Anglican Church, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, convenes a once-in-a-decade meeting which ...