http://www.rferl.org/archive/Picks/latest/3454/3454.html RFE/RL's Top Picks http://www.rferl.org/img/rssLogo_RFERL.gif http://www.rferl.org/archive/Picks/latest/3454/3454.html en-US Copyright 2010 - RFE/RL, Inc. 60 Thu, 23 May 2013 02:31:02 +0000 Pangea CMS – RFE/RL In a new report, the global rights group Amnesty International documents abuses in 159 countries and territories that it says were "inflicted by those in power on those who stand in the way of their vested interests." http://www.rferl.org/content/amnesty-report-2012-human-rights-abuses/24994310.html http://www.rferl.org/content/amnesty-report-2012-human-rights-abuses/24994310.html Wed, 22 May 2013 23:01:00 +0000 Features RFE/RL The arrest of Vano Merabishvili, Mikheil Saakashvili's most powerful ally, appears to tighten the noose around the weakened Georgian president, who has seen his support base crumble since Bidzina Ivanishvili's rise to power last October. But observers in Georgia say the arrest may also be a response to a vicious religious crackdown against gay-rights groups – and a sign that Ivanishvili's true rival is no longer Saakashvili but the church. http://www.rferl.org/content/georgia-merabishvili-arrest-saakashvili/24994273.html http://www.rferl.org/content/georgia-merabishvili-arrest-saakashvili/24994273.html Wed, 22 May 2013 16:36:53 +0000 Georgia Nino Kharadze, Nona Mchedlishvili, Daisy Sindelar The daughter of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of Iran's Islamic republic, has emerged among those stunned and angered by the exclusion of former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani from next month's presidential race. http://www.rferl.org/content/khomeini-rafsanjani-iran-election-presidency/24994147.html http://www.rferl.org/content/khomeini-rafsanjani-iran-election-presidency/24994147.html Wed, 22 May 2013 14:44:00 +0000 Iran Frud Bezhan A parole hearing in the Russian town of Berezniki has been adjourned until May 23 after a jailed member of the all-female opposition group Pussy Riot refused to continue taking part via video-link. http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-jailed-pussy-riot-member-alyokhina-hunger-strike/24993879.html http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-jailed-pussy-riot-member-alyokhina-hunger-strike/24993879.html Wed, 22 May 2013 11:58:47 +0000 Russia RFE/RL's Russian Service Iran's Interior Ministry has announced the official shortlist of candidates that will be vying to succeed President Mahmud Ahmadinejad in that country's June 14 election. http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-president-candidates-list/24993817.html http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-president-candidates-list/24993817.html Wed, 22 May 2013 11:02:17 +0000 Iran The Georgian government of Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili is seeking to change the dynamic of Tbilisi's relationship with the breakaway region of Abkhazia. And the mostly ethnic-Georgian population of Abkhazia's Gali district is once again feeling the squeeze. http://www.rferl.org/content/georgia-abkhazia-breakaway-politics/24993710.html http://www.rferl.org/content/georgia-abkhazia-breakaway-politics/24993710.html Wed, 22 May 2013 10:07:02 +0000 Georgia Tea Shonia, Robert Coalson Ramazan Abdulatipov, whom Russian President Vladimir Putin named acting president of Daghestan in late January, has wasted no time in identifying his priorities. http://www.rferl.org/content/daghestan-president-abdulatipov-politics/24993562.html http://www.rferl.org/content/daghestan-president-abdulatipov-politics/24993562.html Wed, 22 May 2013 08:26:52 +0000 Caucasus Report http://www.rferl.org/content/daghestan-president-abdulatipov-politics/24993562.html#relatedInfoContainer Documents leaked to Swedish investigative journalists and reviewed by RFE/RL appear to offer fresh evidence of a link between Swedish telecom giant TeliaSonera and Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of the president of Uzbekistan. http://www.rferl.org/content/sweden-teliasonera-uzbekistan-karimova/24993135.html http://www.rferl.org/content/sweden-teliasonera-uzbekistan-karimova/24993135.html Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:52 +0000 Uzbekistan Daisy Sindelar, Farruh Yusupov 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 21:54:02 +0000 Persian Letters Golnaz Esfandiari 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 17:28:34 +0000 Iran RFE/RL 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 15:59:50 +0000 Transmission http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-azerbaijan-eurovision-votes/24993029.html#relatedInfoContainer 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 12:35:34 +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 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 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 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 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 13:00:36 +0000 Gandhara http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-women-violence-legislation/24991658.html#relatedInfoContainer Georgia’s strict laws on marijuana have become the subject of a hot debate in the former Soviet republic as the government considers decriminalizing the use of cannabis. http://www.rferl.org/content/georgia-marijuana-decriminalization/24991351.html http://www.rferl.org/content/georgia-marijuana-decriminalization/24991351.html Mon, 20 May 2013 10:00:41 +0000 Georgia Okropir Rukhadze, Ron Synovitz India and Pakistan may have tense relations, but a 22-year-old Pakistan woman and two Indian friends have shown they can rise above their differences by ascending Mount Everest together. http://www.rferl.org/content/everest-pakistani-mountaineer/24991308.html http://www.rferl.org/content/everest-pakistani-mountaineer/24991308.html Mon, 20 May 2013 09:24:18 +0000 Pakistan Rabia Akram, Charles Recknagel Afghan police and medical officials say at least 14 people, including a senior provincial politician, have been killed in a suicide attack outside a government compound in northern Afghanistan. http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-council-suicide-bombing/24991160.html http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-council-suicide-bombing/24991160.html Mon, 20 May 2013 07:29:29 +0000 Afghanistan RFE/RL After two decades as Russia's marquee company, is Gazprom losing its mojo? A changing energy market and emergence of new energy sources is challenging the company's longtime dominance. http://www.rferl.org/content/gazprom-gas-industry-russia/24986891.html http://www.rferl.org/content/gazprom-gas-industry-russia/24986891.html Mon, 20 May 2013 05:53:18 +0000 Russia Tom Balmforth Bosko and Admira, who became known to the world as Sarajevo's Romeo and Juliet, were killed on a bridge in the Bosnian capital 20 years ago. http://www.rferl.org/content/bosnia-love-story-sarajevo-war/24990732.html http://www.rferl.org/content/bosnia-love-story-sarajevo-war/24990732.html Sun, 19 May 2013 12:50:47 +0000 Bosnia Gordana Sanic-Hadzihasanovic In line with a recent amendment to last year's law reintroducing direct elections for the heads of Russia's 83 federation subjects, the Daghestani and Ingushetian parliaments have voted overwhelmingly for an alternative option. Will others follow suit? http://www.rferl.org/content/direct-elections-north-caucasus-russia/24990665.html http://www.rferl.org/content/direct-elections-north-caucasus-russia/24990665.html Sun, 19 May 2013 11:06:35 +0000 Caucasus Report http://www.rferl.org/content/direct-elections-north-caucasus-russia/24990665.html#relatedInfoContainer The gunmen escaped, and there was no immediate claim of responsibility. http://www.rferl.org/content/pakistan-karachi/24990341.html http://www.rferl.org/content/pakistan-karachi/24990341.html Sun, 19 May 2013 01:18:09 +0000 News RFE/RL Pro- and antigovernment protesters square off in rival demonstrations in the Ukrainian capital soon after leaders of the three main opposition factions in the Ukrainian parliament agree to cooperate on backing a single candidate to oppose incumbent Viktor Yanukovych in presidential elections in 2015. http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-protests-politics/24990148.html http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-protests-politics/24990148.html Sat, 18 May 2013 13:55:09 +0000 Ukraine RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service Each year, the U.S. green-card lottery awards tickets to American citizenship to a lucky 55,000 applicants. But now, the program itself may have run out of luck, becoming collateral in deal-making between Democrat and Republican lawmakers as they attempt a massive overhaul of the U.S. immigration system. http://www.rferl.org/content/us-immigration-greencard-lottery-politics/24990012.html http://www.rferl.org/content/us-immigration-greencard-lottery-politics/24990012.html Sat, 18 May 2013 11:35:30 +0000 Features Richard Solash On May 17, hard-line cleric Ahmad Jannati, the chairman of the powerful Guardians Council that vets all election candidates, said without naming Rafsanjani that the country's next president should lead a simple life. He added that such a man (for female candidates appear to be excluded) shouldn't ride around in a Mercedes. http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-president-election-rafsanjani-mercedes/24989872.html http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-president-election-rafsanjani-mercedes/24989872.html Sat, 18 May 2013 09:17:10 +0000 Persian Letters http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-president-election-rafsanjani-mercedes/24989872.html#relatedInfoContainer The United States supports Syria’s rebels and has demanded the exit of the Assad regime. http://www.rferl.org/content/syria-rus-us/24989682.html http://www.rferl.org/content/syria-rus-us/24989682.html Sat, 18 May 2013 03:10:23 +0000 Russia RFE/RL Eliot Engel, the top Democrat on the U.S. House of Representative’s Foreign Affairs Committee, spoke to RFE/RL about the recent normalization agreement between Serbia and Kosovo and the prospects for reconciliation. http://www.rferl.org/content/interview-engel-kosovo-serbia/24989546.html http://www.rferl.org/content/interview-engel-kosovo-serbia/24989546.html Fri, 17 May 2013 17:40:18 +0000 Features The FBI has been investigating a former Chechen rebel fighter over his association with one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, Tamerlan Tsarnaev. http://www.rferl.org/content/boston-bombing-tsarnaev-tamerlan-rebel/24989229.html http://www.rferl.org/content/boston-bombing-tsarnaev-tamerlan-rebel/24989229.html Fri, 17 May 2013 12:28:57 +0000 North Caucasus VOA's Fatima Tlisova Two starkly different accounts by one of Iran’s leading presidential hopefuls of his role in state crackdowns have emerged online. So is Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf a hard-liner or a moderate? http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-qalibaf-crackdown-accounts/24989062.html http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-qalibaf-crackdown-accounts/24989062.html Fri, 17 May 2013 11:19:51 +0000 Iran Golnaz Esfandiari At least 17 people have been injured by violence that broke out in Georgia's capital before the start of a rally to mark the International Day Against Homophobia. http://www.rferl.org/content/georgia-gay-rights-protests/24988972.html http://www.rferl.org/content/georgia-gay-rights-protests/24988972.html Fri, 17 May 2013 10:12:21 +0000 Georgia RFE/RL's Georgian Service What is the state of LGBT rights in the world today? To mark International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) has released a map charting the rights of homosexuals around the world. The co-secretary general of ILGA, Renato Sabbadini, spoke to RFE/RL's Claire Bigg. http://www.rferl.org/content/homosexuals-rights-worldwide-interview/24988901.html http://www.rferl.org/content/homosexuals-rights-worldwide-interview/24988901.html Fri, 17 May 2013 09:44:09 +0000 Features Cars, liquor, and nepotism. Not subjects often discussed in the Afghan parliament. But this week's hearings were different and they have caused a sensation in Kabul. http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-corruption-minister-zakhilwal/24988296.html http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-corruption-minister-zakhilwal/24988296.html Thu, 16 May 2013 15:34:08 +0000 Afghanistan Abubakar Siddique The multinational musical glitzfest known as Eurovision holds its final in Sweden. But the main sponsor of this year's contest raises eyebrows for its ties to human rights abuses in the former Soviet Union. http://www.rferl.org/content/eurovision-sweden-scandal-sponsor-karimova/24988235.html http://www.rferl.org/content/eurovision-sweden-scandal-sponsor-karimova/24988235.html Thu, 16 May 2013 14:35:25 +0000 Features Daisy Sindelar A former prisoner, newly freed because of bribes, is gunned down in the street. The message: "In prison, he'd still be alive." It's all in the name of fighting corruption in Russia's republic of Daghestan. http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-anticorruption-video/24988031.html http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-anticorruption-video/24988031.html Thu, 16 May 2013 12:24:30 +0000 Russia Deana Kjuka Gay and transgender activists in St. Petersburg are planning a small rally on May 17 despite the city's notorious law banning so-called "homosexual propaganda." It comes with authorities in the Russian capital, Moscow, holding out against a similar event there. http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-lgbt-gay-homophobia-petersburg-moscow/24988036.html http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-lgbt-gay-homophobia-petersburg-moscow/24988036.html Thu, 16 May 2013 12:16:35 +0000 Russia Robert Coalson A trio of political scandals has the White House doing damage control on three fronts as Republicans, the media, and members of President Barack Obama's own Democratic Party question his leadership and legacy, just six months after he was reelected. http://www.rferl.org/content/us-political-scandal/24987878.html http://www.rferl.org/content/us-political-scandal/24987878.html Thu, 16 May 2013 10:14:52 +0000 Features Heather Maher U.S. President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan have pledged to "keep increasing pressure" on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime. http://www.rferl.org/content/obama-hosts-erdogan-talks-on-syria/24987695.html http://www.rferl.org/content/obama-hosts-erdogan-talks-on-syria/24987695.html Thu, 16 May 2013 08:34:31 +0000 News Richard Solash It’s fitting that the circumstances surrounding Vladislav Surkov’s sudden exit from the halls of power continue to be shrouded in mystery. http://www.rferl.org/content/surkovs-last-stand/24987291.html http://www.rferl.org/content/surkovs-last-stand/24987291.html Wed, 15 May 2013 17:49:03 +0000 The Power Vertical http://www.rferl.org/content/surkovs-last-stand/24987291.html#relatedInfoContainer The first of some 2,000 fighters from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey have crossed the border into Iraq's northern Kurdistan region under a peace plan agreed with Ankara. But what will they do there? http://www.rferl.org/content/pkk-arrival-iraq-turkey/24987141.html http://www.rferl.org/content/pkk-arrival-iraq-turkey/24987141.html Wed, 15 May 2013 15:17:08 +0000 Iraq Ron Synovitz, Abdul Hamid Zibari Russian and American prisoners are facing off in an international online chess competition -- just as ties between the countries fray in the wake of a strange spy scandal in the Russian capital. http://www.rferl.org/content/russian-american-convicts-chess/24986988.html http://www.rferl.org/content/russian-american-convicts-chess/24986988.html Wed, 15 May 2013 13:16:03 +0000 Transmission http://www.rferl.org/content/russian-american-convicts-chess/24986988.html#relatedInfoContainer Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on May 14 that it had detained a U.S. diplomat in Moscow for allegedly trying to recruit a Russian counterterrorism officer. The incident is one of the strangest spy scandals involving Russia in recent memory. But Boris Volodarsky, a veteran of Russia's GRU military intelligence service now based in London, believes the case was entirely fabricated. He spoke to RFE/RL’s Claire Bigg. http://www.rferl.org/content/spy-fogle-interview-soviet/24986987.html http://www.rferl.org/content/spy-fogle-interview-soviet/24986987.html Wed, 15 May 2013 12:54:01 +0000 Russia http://www.rferl.org/content/spy-fogle-interview-soviet/24986987.html#relatedInfoContainer Moldova’s LGBT community is launching a weeklong festival celebrating sexual minorities in the conservative country. Organizers are optimistic the country has come a long way since a gay march in 2008 was scuttled by rock-throwing counterdemonstrators. http://www.rferl.org/content/lgbt-gay-festival-moldova-society/24986744.html http://www.rferl.org/content/lgbt-gay-festival-moldova-society/24986744.html Wed, 15 May 2013 09:38:11 +0000 Moldova Alla Ceapai A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin says an alleged attempt by a U.S. diplomat to recruit a Russian intelligence officer for the Central Intelligence Agency does not help efforts to improve U.S.-Russia relations. http://www.rferl.org/content/us-russia-spy-incident-mcfaul/24986480.html http://www.rferl.org/content/us-russia-spy-incident-mcfaul/24986480.html Wed, 15 May 2013 07:13:12 +0000 Russia RFE/RL Foreign ministers from the eight Arctic nations have met in Sweden to discuss problems posed by climate change and growing commercial activity. http://www.rferl.org/content/arctic-council-meeting-kiruna-sweden/24986246.html http://www.rferl.org/content/arctic-council-meeting-kiruna-sweden/24986246.html Wed, 15 May 2013 01:04:19 +0000 News Claire Bigg In recent days, photos of the cars used by Iranian presidential contenders Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and and Said Jalili have been posted side by side on a number of hard-line pro-establishment websites. http://www.rferl.org/content/persian-letters-rafsanjani-jalili-presidential-contenders-cars/24986191.html http://www.rferl.org/content/persian-letters-rafsanjani-jalili-presidential-contenders-cars/24986191.html Tue, 14 May 2013 18:40:08 +0000 Persian Letters http://www.rferl.org/content/persian-letters-rafsanjani-jalili-presidential-contenders-cars/24986191.html#relatedInfoContainer