Sunday, February 05, 2012
There are frequent reports in the Bulgarian and Ukrainian media about Romanian “pirates” robbing passing transport ships on the Danube. (file photo)

Reports Of Pirates On The Danube May Be Overblown

An attack last month on a Ukrainian barge on the Romanian sector of the Danube River has caused a diplomatic tussle between Bucharest and Kyiv, sparking media reports of possible acts of piracy on Europe's second-largest river. But do “Danube pirates” actually exist? More

Moscow pensioners Irina and Vladislav participated in anti-Soviet protests over 20 years ago.

Perestroika Veterans Pass The Torch To A New Protest Generation

Amid the young middle class professionals that made up the backbone of the anti-Kremlin rally in Moscow, there were pensioners who were veterans of an earlier protest era. More

Vitaly, a banking consultant, attended the rally with friends.

'Why I Came To The Anti-Kremlin Protest'

RFE/RL correspondent Tom Balmforth took to the streets of Moscow to ask people why they had attended the anti-Putin rally. More

Russian pro-democracy protesters are expected to brave Arctic temperatures for a demonstration on February 4.

One More Cup Of Coffee To Stay Warm At The Rally

For the tens of thousands of protesters expected to take to the streets in frigid Moscow on February 4, staying warm will pose a challenge. A hip online magazine in the capital is seeking to help them out with a handy guide More

The embalmed body of Vladimir Lenin in the mausoleum on Red Square in Moscow.

Video 

An inadvertent slip of the tongue during a live news broadcast has turned a Siberian news presenter into an Internet sensation. More

Recent Features

"The main impression...after being 15 minutes in her presence is that she is not frightened," a colleague says of Natasa Kandic (above).

The Truth-Teller: Natasa Kandic, Urging Serbs To Face The Past

More than a decade has passed since the end of the Balkan wars, where international observers say ethnic Serb fighters were responsible for the bulk of atrocities in the region, particularly Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo. But despite the handover of major war-crimes suspects like Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, Belgrade remains reluctant to face the sins of the past. Lawyer Natasa Kandic has built an unpopular and often dangerous career out of pushing her country to face the truth about its history.
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Afghan President Hamid Karzai meets with Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar in Kabul on February 1.

Interview: Rashid On 'Bad Timing' Of NATO Report On Pakistan And Taliban

Ahmed Rashid, a journalist and the well-respected author of several books on the Taliban and militant Islam, answers questions about the impact of a leaked NATO report that alleges that Pakistan's ISI intelligence agency is "intimately involved" with the Afghan insurgency. Rashid spoke with RFE/RL correspondent Abubakar Siddique.
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Writer, journalist, and poet Dmitry Bykov, whose "Citizen Poet" project has become an online sensation

Russia's Liberal Intelligentsia Begins To Stir

As Russia braces for a third major anti-Kremlin rally this weekend, the country's liberal intelligentsia is taking center stage.
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The recently unveiled logo for Eurovision 2012

In Baku, Eurovision Supervisor Talks Of Human Rights, Hopes For Event

Azerbaijan has hosted its first formal ceremony as this year's host of the Eurovision Song Contest, unveiling its logo and slogan and participating in the official handover of the contest to Baku from last year's host, Duesseldorf, Germany.
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A victim of the January 27 bombing in Baghdad lies on a stretcher after treatment. It was the latest in a wave of attacks that have killed more than 340 people over the past 30 days.

Violence Soars As Political Crisis Paralyzes Iraq

Violence is increasing as Iraq goes through its worst crisis since U.S. troops left in mid-December. Many see the escalating violence as part and parcel of political feuding in Baghdad.
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Zoran Laketa lost his father and brother in the war

In Bosnia-Herzegovina, One Family, Three Armies, And A Lost Generation

Zoran Laketa knows what it's like to fire a gun and wonder if the soldier on the other side of the front line just might be his brother. Or his father.
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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (center) drinking beer with soccer fans in St. Petersburg on January 19.

Candidate Putin Offers Russian Soccer Fans Free Flights To Euro 2012

Russian soccer fans concerned about making it to Kyiv for the Euro 2012 championships need worry no longer. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has announced the country's leading airlines will provide free transport to and from at least some of the Russian team's matches.
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"Our families were more or less aware of our condition, but we kept many things secret from them," says Captain Memed Zakaradze.

Video Georgian Captain Recounts Somali Hostage Ordeal

Fifteen Georgian and three Turkish sailors returned home earlier this month after spending 16 months being held hostage by Somali pirates. The ship's 63-year-old captain, Memed Zakaradze, recounts the ordeal.
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The sextuplets were born prematurely and are being kept in incubators.

In Afghanistan, Worried Mother Of Sextuplets Gets Help

Local authorities in the northern Afghan province of Balkh have stepped in to provide assistance to a young mother who had expressed dismay at how she would be able to care for her six newborns. Sara Gul delivered three boys and three girls early on January 24.
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Angelina Jolie at the premiere of "In the Land of Blood and Honey" in Los Angeles in December

Jolie Earns Serbian Scorn For War Film

She’s known internationally as one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actresses; she’s won praise from governments and NGOs across the globe for her work as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations; and she’s often reckoned to be the world’s most beautiful woman. But Angelina Jolie has been going by a few other titles lately in the Balkans nation of Serbia, where prominent media outlets have taken to describing her as an American propagandist and all-around "jerk."
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