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 Thu, 20 Jun 2013 05:24:28 +0000 Pangea CMS – RFE/RL The FBI released a statement that said drones are used only to watch stationary subjects and to avoid serious risks to law enforcement agents. http://www.rferl.org/content/us-fbi/25022417.html http://www.rferl.org/content/us-fbi/25022417.html Thu, 20 Jun 2013 02:52:21 +0000 News Karzai’s was angered after the Taliban opened an office in Qatar using the name the militants used while in power from 1996 to 2001: "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan." http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-taliban-usa/25022373.html http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-taliban-usa/25022373.html Thu, 20 Jun 2013 01:43:37 +0000 News internet_team@rferl.org (RFE/RL) The liaison officer job is intended to help Kosovo and Serbia implement an EU-brokered normalization accord that was agreed on in April. http://www.rferl.org/content/kosovo-serbia/25022365.html http://www.rferl.org/content/kosovo-serbia/25022365.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 23:55:16 +0000 News Taliban officials in the newly opened Taliban office in Qatar say the opening of their office is a response to calls by their opponents for the launch of a political process to end three decades of fighting in Afghanistan. In an interview with RFE/RL correspondent Abubakar Siddique, Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem explained the hard-line movement's motives and aspirations behind the opening of their contact office in the Qatari capital, Doha. http://www.rferl.org/content/taliban-peace-talks-qatar-afghanistan/25022340.html http://www.rferl.org/content/taliban-peace-talks-qatar-afghanistan/25022340.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:10:39 +0000 Afghanistan It is almost a year since the first reports surfaced that some Chechens, together with fighters from elsewhere in the Russian Federation, had joined the ranks of the armed opposition to Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad. While their numbers remain unclear, it seems that by no means all of them traveled to Syria directly from Chechnya. http://www.rferl.org/content/chechen-syria-fighting-kadyrov/25022321.html http://www.rferl.org/content/chechen-syria-fighting-kadyrov/25022321.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:27:32 +0000 Caucasus Report http://www.rferl.org/content/chechen-syria-fighting-kadyrov/25022321.html#relatedInfoContainer Iranians elected a new president last week but have yet to learn anything about his wife. President-elect Hassan Rohani has never mentioned her name in public, and Iranian media have failed to uncover her identity. http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-rohani-wife-first-lady-president/25022300.html http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-rohani-wife-first-lady-president/25022300.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:04:04 +0000 Persian Letters http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-rohani-wife-first-lady-president/25022300.html#relatedInfoContainer Former Hungarian leader Gyula Horn, who played a key role in the opening of the Iron Curtain in 1989, has died at the age of 80. http://www.rferl.org/content/gyula-horn-dead-hungary-postcommunist/25022273.html http://www.rferl.org/content/gyula-horn-dead-hungary-postcommunist/25022273.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:15:16 +0000 News Somali officials say 15 people have been killed in an attack on a UN compound launched by militants from the Al-Shabaab Islamic group. http://www.rferl.org/content/somalia-un-compound-attack/25022260.html http://www.rferl.org/content/somalia-un-compound-attack/25022260.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:00:42 +0000 News The Taliban has expressed its willingness to share power in Afghanistan a day after the hard-line Islamist group opened a political office in Qatar. http://www.rferl.org/content/taliban-afghanistan-government-power-share/25022215.html http://www.rferl.org/content/taliban-afghanistan-government-power-share/25022215.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:41:45 +0000 Afghanistan internet_team@rferl.org (RFE/RL) Amid news that the Taliban is opening an office in Qatar with the intention of engaging in talks with the United States, RFE/RL looks at what the main players in the Afghan conflict want out of peace negotiations. http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-united-states-taliban-doha-talks/25022200.html http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-united-states-taliban-doha-talks/25022200.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:33:58 +0000 Afghanistan internet_team@rferl.org (Frud Bezhan) Three Kyrgyz judges who acquitted three convicted opposition lawmakers have apparently gone into hiding. http://www.rferl.org/content/kyrgyzstan-judges-in-hiding/25022029.html http://www.rferl.org/content/kyrgyzstan-judges-in-hiding/25022029.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:21:34 +0000 Kyrgyzstan internet_team@rferl.org (RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service) Aleksei Navalny is on the ropes. But he is also on a roll. http://www.rferl.org/content/navalny-game-russia-opposition-moscow-trial/25022010.html http://www.rferl.org/content/navalny-game-russia-opposition-moscow-trial/25022010.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:07:28 +0000 The Power Vertical http://www.rferl.org/content/navalny-game-russia-opposition-moscow-trial/25022010.html#relatedInfoContainer U.S. President Barack Obama has defended U.S. efforts to get Afghan peace talks started at a new Taliban office in Qatar. http://www.rferl.org/content/taliban-peace-talks-afghanistan-us-karzai/25021960.html http://www.rferl.org/content/taliban-peace-talks-afghanistan-us-karzai/25021960.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:17:40 +0000 Afghanistan internet_team@rferl.org (RFE/RL) A gay-rights organization in St. Petersburg has been fined for refusing to register as "a foreign agent.'' http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-gay-rights-foreign-agent/25021857.html http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-gay-rights-foreign-agent/25021857.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:33:13 +0000 Russia U.S. President Barack Obama has refused to be specific about what weapons Washington would provide to Syrian opposition forces. http://www.rferl.org/content/obama-syria-military-aid/25021831.html http://www.rferl.org/content/obama-syria-military-aid/25021831.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:17:36 +0000 News The latest viral video from Russia seems to show how carelessly mail packages are being handled at what appears to be the Novosibirsk main railway station. http://www.rferl.org/content/russian-post-office-rail-carriage-parcels/25021894.html http://www.rferl.org/content/russian-post-office-rail-carriage-parcels/25021894.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:13:20 +0000 Transmission http://www.rferl.org/content/russian-post-office-rail-carriage-parcels/25021894.html#relatedInfoContainer Passengers on a subway train in St. Petersburg were recently treated to something you don't see every day -- a ride with the doors open as they rushed down the tunnel under Russia's second city. http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-subway-open-doors/25021785.html http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-subway-open-doors/25021785.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:42:01 +0000 Transmission http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-subway-open-doors/25021785.html#relatedInfoContainer According to a poll conducted by Russia's independent Levada Center, the United States is now the country considered by the greatest number of Russians to be an enemy of their country. http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-us-worst-enemy/25021735.html http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-us-worst-enemy/25021735.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:01:06 +0000 Transmission http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-us-worst-enemy/25021735.html#relatedInfoContainer Georgian Interior Minister Irakli Garibashvili told journalists that one suspect is a Defense Ministry official and two are former police officers. http://www.rferl.org/content/georgia-arms-caches/25021702.html http://www.rferl.org/content/georgia-arms-caches/25021702.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:42:39 +0000 Georgia Czech police have arrested an alleged high-ranking member of a Georgian organized criminal group. http://www.rferl.org/content/czech-georgian-arrest/25021691.html http://www.rferl.org/content/czech-georgian-arrest/25021691.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:28:14 +0000 Georgia Russian opposition activist Leonid Razvozzhayev has been presented with the final charges against him by investigators. http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-razvozzhayev/25021575.html http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-razvozzhayev/25021575.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:25:14 +0000 Russia A Latvian bank has been hit with the stiffest fine possible for involvement in money laundering connected to the case of the whistle-blowing Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. http://www.rferl.org/content/magnitsky-latvian-bank-money-laundering/25021556.html http://www.rferl.org/content/magnitsky-latvian-bank-money-laundering/25021556.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:13:20 +0000 Russia internet_team@rferl.org (RFE/RL) Prominent Russian human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina has been fined for refusing to provide documents demanded by prosecutors. http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-rights-/25021510.html http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-rights-/25021510.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 08:41:49 +0000 Russia The attack north of Kabul came just hours after Taliban leaders said they were ready to start peace talks with the United States in Qatar later this week. http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-bagram-attack/25021411.html http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-bagram-attack/25021411.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:04:26 +0000 Afghanistan The American award-winning war correspondent Michael Hastings, who authored notable articles and books about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, has been killed in a car accident in Los Angeles. He was 33. http://www.rferl.org/content/michael-hastings-death/25021403.html http://www.rferl.org/content/michael-hastings-death/25021403.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 06:38:32 +0000 News U.S. President Barack Obama has proposed that the United States and Russia cut their strategic nuclear warheads by a further one-third. http://www.rferl.org/content/obama-us-russia-nuclear-arsenal-cuts/25021399.html http://www.rferl.org/content/obama-us-russia-nuclear-arsenal-cuts/25021399.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 06:35:50 +0000 Russia internet_team@rferl.org (RFE/RL) Russia # The U.S. and Russia will have a "cyberwarfare hotline" # "Those $%@#&! Russians Aren't Always Wrong" - Julia Ioffe, "The New Republic" # Russia may or may not follow the U.S. in reducing nukes # An arms depot in Samara blew up Iran # "Iran's New President, Consummate Insider" - Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi, "Iranwire" # What's next for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? # Iran is through to the World Cup # The ... http://www.rferl.org/content/rundown-press-review/25021331.html http://www.rferl.org/content/rundown-press-review/25021331.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:31:51 +0000 The Rundown http://www.rferl.org/content/rundown-press-review/25021331.html#relatedInfoContainer Ammunition explosions have rocked a military training area in Russia’s southwestern Samara region. http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-samara-explosions/25021278.html http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-samara-explosions/25021278.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 03:50:57 +0000 Russia The United Nations refugee agency says the number of refugees and displaced people around the world rose to 45.2 million last year – the most in 18 years. http://www.rferl.org/content/un-refugees/25021236.html http://www.rferl.org/content/un-refugees/25021236.html Wed, 19 Jun 2013 01:39:40 +0000 News internet_team@rferl.org (RFE/RL) UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has welcomed Serbia's progress on human rights issues but also outlined areas where more needed to be done. http://www.rferl.org/content/un-serbia-rights-chief/25021192.html http://www.rferl.org/content/un-serbia-rights-chief/25021192.html Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:51:44 +0000 Serbia internet_team@rferl.org (RFE/RL) Radio Farda reporter Vahid Pourostad was a Silver Radio Winner at the 2013 New York Festivals International Radio Programs and Promos Awards for his radio documentary, “Solitary Confinement.” http://www.rferl.org/content/press-release-radio-farda-investigative-report-wins-silver-new-york-festivals/25021135.html http://www.rferl.org/content/press-release-radio-farda-investigative-report-wins-silver-new-york-festivals/25021135.html Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:26:11 +0000 Press Releases Scientists in southern Russia are working to clone a 100-year-old poplar tree that survived the Battle of Stalingrad, http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-stalingrad-poplar-survivor-clone/25021123.html http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-stalingrad-poplar-survivor-clone/25021123.html Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:54:54 +0000 Transmission http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-stalingrad-poplar-survivor-clone/25021123.html#relatedInfoContainer Chinese officials have detained two Russian nationals for attempted smuggling of 213 bear paws. http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-china-bears-paws/25021076.html http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-china-bears-paws/25021076.html Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:50:18 +0000 Russia The leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) group of industrialized countries have called for peace talks to be held in Geneva on the Syria conflict "as soon as possible." http://www.rferl.org/content/syria-g8-urges-conference/25021064.html http://www.rferl.org/content/syria-g8-urges-conference/25021064.html Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:34:45 +0000 News internet_team@rferl.org (RFE/RL) Iran's national soccer team has defeated South Korea 1-0, a result that sends both teams to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-world-cup-soccer/25021028.html http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-world-cup-soccer/25021028.html Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:06:39 +0000 Iran U.S. officials say they will sit down with the Taliban "within days" to begin the "first step on a long road" toward ending the 12-year-old war in Afghanistan. http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-us-taliban-talks/25020991.html http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-us-taliban-talks/25020991.html Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:39:01 +0000 Afghanistan internet_team@rferl.org (RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan) A new debate has unfolded in Pakistan after a residence of the founder of the country was bombed and burned in a picturesque valley in southwestern Pakistan on June 15. Some saw the blowing up of the summer retreat of Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the midst of juniper forests in Ziarat as a great loss because it was symbol of national heritage. They viewed the attack on the Ziarat residency, as it is known, as an attack on the very foundation of Pakistan by Baloch separatists who are fighting for ... http://www.rferl.org/content/ziarat-residency-quetta-pakistan-debate/25020901.html http://www.rferl.org/content/ziarat-residency-quetta-pakistan-debate/25020901.html Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:52:46 +0000 Gandhara http://www.rferl.org/content/ziarat-residency-quetta-pakistan-debate/25020901.html#relatedInfoContainer Russia's dismal work safety record was underlined once again this week with the publication of a video on YouTube depicting a horrible workplace accident that has been viewed by tens of thousands of people. http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-building-demolition-lipetsk-work-safety/25020624.html http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-building-demolition-lipetsk-work-safety/25020624.html Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:19:29 +0000 Transmission http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-building-demolition-lipetsk-work-safety/25020624.html#relatedInfoContainer A suicide bomber has blown himself up in a crowd of hundreds of mourners attending a funeral in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least 27 people. http://www.rferl.org/content/article/25020844.html http://www.rferl.org/content/article/25020844.html Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:16:23 +0000 Pakistan internet_team@rferl.org (RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal) All 13 defense witnesses of Russian anticorruption blogger Aleksei Navalny have been barred from testifying at his embezzlement trial in the city of Kirov. http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-navalny-denied-witnesses/25020828.html http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-navalny-denied-witnesses/25020828.html Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:07:06 +0000 Russia Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad steps down in August surrounded by enemies after eight years in office. What does his future hold? http://www.rferl.org/content/what-now-for-ahmadinejad-iran/25020797.html http://www.rferl.org/content/what-now-for-ahmadinejad-iran/25020797.html Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:33:04 +0000 Iran internet_team@rferl.org (Charles Recknagel) Three days after Hassan Rohani's surprising victory, many Iranians and Iran observers are still trying to wrap their heads around how and why the moderate cleric was able to win what was expected to be a carefully managed contest. http://www.rferl.org/content/rohani-rouhani-iran-how-did-he-win/25020766.html http://www.rferl.org/content/rohani-rouhani-iran-how-did-he-win/25020766.html Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:02:58 +0000 Iran internet_team@rferl.org (Golnaz Esfandiari) Two suicide bombers carry out a coordinated attack on a Shi'ite mosque in Baghdad, killing dozens of people. http://www.rferl.org/content/baghdad-iraq-bombings/25020733.html http://www.rferl.org/content/baghdad-iraq-bombings/25020733.html Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:51:57 +0000 Iraq Human Rights Watch and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights are expressing concerns about several new appointments to Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission by President Hamid Karzai. http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-rights-hrw-pillay-un/25020726.html http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-rights-hrw-pillay-un/25020726.html Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:48:47 +0000 Afghanistan internet_team@rferl.org (RFE/RL) Russian natural-gas company Gazprom is in discussions to acquire the Armenian government's shares in the company responsible for importing, storage, and distribution of gas in Armenia. http://www.rferl.org/content/gazprom-armenia-gas-stake-state/25020721.html http://www.rferl.org/content/gazprom-armenia-gas-stake-state/25020721.html Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:43:31 +0000 Armenia A fresh meme has emerged from the protests on Istanbul's Taksim Square. And, as RFE/RL correspondent Deana Kjuka reports, this time it's not about penguins -- although they do make an appearance -- but rather a silent "standing man." http://www.rferl.org/content/turkey-protest-meme-taksim-standing-man/25020675.html http://www.rferl.org/content/turkey-protest-meme-taksim-standing-man/25020675.html Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:19:34 +0000 Transmission http://www.rferl.org/content/turkey-protest-meme-taksim-standing-man/25020675.html#relatedInfoContainer Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Iran is prepared to suspend the production of enriched uranium, adding that the move would justify the easing of economic sanctions against Tehran. http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-iran-nuclear-enrichment-suspend/25020567.html http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-iran-nuclear-enrichment-suspend/25020567.html Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:06:07 +0000 Iran internet_team@rferl.org (RFE/RL) A court in Kazakhstan's western city of Atyrau imposed a seven-year prison term on a young woman for preparing her 12-year-old stepson to become a suicide bomber. http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakhstan-suicide-bomber-stepmother-stepson-jail/25020529.html http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakhstan-suicide-bomber-stepmother-stepson-jail/25020529.html Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:53:58 +0000 Kazakhstan Ten Georgian servicemen have been killed in Afghanistan in the last month. The appearance of a purported Taliban video threatening “jihad” against Georgia ignited a firestorm of political accusations among supporters of President Mikheil Saakashvili and Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili. http://www.rferl.org/content/georgia-taliban-saakashvili-threat-terrorism-politics/25020506.html http://www.rferl.org/content/georgia-taliban-saakashvili-threat-terrorism-politics/25020506.html Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:35:53 +0000 Georgia internet_team@rferl.org (Robert Coalson, Luka Kalandarishvili) Hungarian prosecutors have charged a 98-year-old man with war crimes committed during World War II. http://www.rferl.org/content/hungary-nazi-csatary-war-crimes/25020481.html http://www.rferl.org/content/hungary-nazi-csatary-war-crimes/25020481.html Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:27:15 +0000 News