Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Videos, interviews, and more

Video

The Latest In Russian Home Decor: Woven Putins

The Uzor factory near St. Petersburg produces tapestries that decorate Russian homes. Its best-selling products: textile portraits of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. (video by Reuters)

Video Archive

Video

Video A Tough Job, And Little Trust, For Afghan Police

Afghans have doubts about their police officers’ capacity to take charge of security as NATO-led forces withdraw. RFE/RL went out on the beat with one Afghan cop.

Video 20 Years After The Start Of The Siege, A Return To Sarajevo

This year will mark 20 years since the start of the siege of Sarajevo, which lasted 1,425 days and killed and wounded thousands of people. RFE/RL's Russian Service broadcaster Irina Lagunina was one of the first Russian journalists to visit Sarajevo in 1993. Now, 16 years after the lift of the siege, Lagunina returns to the city to find that the Dayton peace agreement kept the cease-fire but did not produce a stable peace.

Video A Macedonian Village On The Edge Of Europe

Over the past couple of years, the Macedonian village of Lojane, which borders Serbia, has become a stopover on the illegal migration routes to Western Europe. Immigrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and some Arab countries spend days here trying to find their way into the European Union. But Serbian police make their attempts to cross the border more difficult and many illegal immigrants stopped anywhere in Serbia are also sent back to Lojane. (RFE/RL's Macedonian Service)

Video One Family, Three Armies, A Lost Generation

In 1993, ethnically driven violence ripped the Bosnian city of Mostar apart. Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of families were split in half, with brothers fighting against brothers, sons against fathers. Today the city remains divided, a far cry from what it was before the war. RFE/RL spoke with one Mostar man whose life was torn apart at the age of 25. (RFE/RL's Balkan Service)

Video In Armenia, A Phony Fan Club Pokes Fun At Putin

A little-known group claiming to represent young Armenians has launched a club for fans of Vladimir Putin, intended to "popularize the ideas" of the Russian prime minister. In a satirical response, a group of Armenian comedians is creating a club of its own that mocks Putin's cult of personality. To join, fans only need to drink a shot of vodka accompanied by a pickle.

Video Azerbaijan's Busy Traffic Police

A video by RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service shows traffic police officers stopping cars on December 31 and seemingly taking bribes. On the same day, President Ilham Aliyev spoke to the nation and talked about his government's "fierce fight against corruption."

Video Video Captures Turkmen President Bullying Officials

When Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov took over as Turkmenistan's leader in late 2006, he seemed timid and uneasy with his new role. But a recent video obtained by RFE/RL's Turkmen Service shows a very confident Berdymukhammedov barking orders at officials and deriding Turkish businesses, which are among the few companies active in the isolated nation. The once-humble dentist appears to be following firmly in the footsteps of his predecessor, Saparmurat Niyazov. Video provided to RFE/RL's Turkmen Service by the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights in Vienna

Video Afghan Female Boxers Fight Their Way Toward Olympics

Sadaf Rahimi and her sister Shabnam are members of Afghanistan's first female boxing team. Their family has been threatened because of their participation in the sport, considered taboo for women by many conservatives, but they're determined to keep fighting. Reuters video

Video Radio Free Food: Persian Kookoo Sabzi

Hirsa Esmaeilnia and Kristin Deasy share a recipe for kookoo sabzi, a classic vegetarian dish from Iran.

Video State Funeral For Vaclav Havel

World leaders and Czech dignitaries bid farewell to former President Vaclav Havel, who died on December 18 at age 75, at a funeral service in St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle. Attending the funeral were some 40 delegations from abroad, including 15 presidents.

Video Czechs Pay Respects To Vaclav Havel

As news spread of the death of former President Vaclav Havel, Czech citizens lit candles and placed flowers on Prague's Wenceslas Square and at the memorial on Narodni Street for the student demonstrations that ushered in the Velvet Revolution. Czech flutist Jiří Stivín made an impromptu appearance in Havel's honor.

Video Pakistani Children Describe Abuse At Madrasah

Children at a madrasah in Karachi, Pakistan, tell horrific tales of being chained together in a basement where they were starved and beaten. One of their teachers, now under arrest, says it was all part of their religious education. Video by RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal

Video In Unstable Iraq, Armenian Christians Feel The Strain

Ethnic Armenians make up just one small part of Iraq’s Christian minority. As sectarian attacks against Christians have grown in recent years, many ethnic Armenians have fled the country, as others stay behind and struggle to keep their community going. Video by Wisam Fazaa, RFE/RL’s Radio Free Iraq

Video Volatile Daghestan Fears Growing Discontent

Radicalization is splitting society in Russia's North Caucasus region of Daghestan where violence and instability is spreading. RFE/RL correspondent Gregory Feifer traveled to the mountains of Daghestan with cameraman Yuri Timofeev and reports that traditional society there is tearing at the seams.

Video Ukraine: 'A Feeling Of Rebirth'

Twenty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, RFE/RL has collected the stories of witnesses to those historic events. In this interview, Ukrainian Service correspondent Irena Chalupa recalls the excitement in the air on the brink of Ukraine's independence. Full series: The Fall

Video A Personality Cult Grows In Tajikistan

Everywhere he goes, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon receives a royal welcome, complete with a red carpet, flowers, and poems recited by eager youths. The state-run media plays a powerful role in promoting the president’s image as a benevolent monarch. Produced by Akram Qahhorov, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service

Video Before We Operate: Are You From Republika Srpska?

Bosnia's postwar division created separate police, separate educational systems, and separate health care in each of its two political entities. That means that patients in their own country can face the same delays and bureaucracy as if they were seeking health care abroad. Video by Žana Kovačević, RFE/RL's Balkan Service

Video Russian Security Forces Undermine Stability in Ingushetia

People in Russia's North Caucasus region of Ingushetia say security forces are undermining stability by violating basic human rights. RFE/RL correspondent Gregory Feifer traveled to Ingushetia with cameraman Yuri Timofeev and reports that even the region's popular leader has been unable to tackle the root causes of violence there.

Video Interview: Father Of Moscow Metro Suicide Bomber

RFE/RL's Gregory Feifer speaks to Rasul Magomedov, father one of two suicide bombers who killed 40 people in the Moscow metro last year. He says he understands the wish to avenge the killings of innocent civilians in the North Caucasus by security forces.

Video Russian Art Crimes

The Voina art group, notorious for its provocative stunts in Russia, is now touring Europe with its latest protest. The group displayed a massive photo of one of their members in Prague to protest the charges against him in Russia.

Video 'Stealth' Rock Festival In Kabul

Afghanistan has had its first rock music festival since 1975 -- a month of music workshops, jam sessions, and concerts in Kabul during September and October 2011 with mirror events in New York. (Produced by Ron Synovitz in Prague; New York video footage by Nik Krastev; Kabul video footage courtesy of Sound Central)

Video Muslims Fight Back Against Russian Nationalists

In the region of Kirov, a secretive group called the Black Hawks is urging Muslims to stand up to the threat of extremist violence.

Video A Difficult Childhood For World's 'Baby 6 Billion'

Adnan Nevic, an 11-year-old boy living in the Bosnian town of Visoko, is better known as Baby 6 Billion -- the baby designated by the UN in 1999 as the Earth's 6 billionth inhabitant. But today, Adnan and his family -- including a father suffering from cancer -- live in poverty.

Video Local Media In Russia At The Mercy Of Politicians

Once a local celebrity in the Russian city of Rybinsk, former television journalist Aleksandr Zverkov now earns his living as a trolleybus conductor. This is the price he paid for criticizing the local mayor, after which the private television company which employed him was shut down.

Video For Yulia And Yulia, 'Don't Tell' Still Rules

Homosexuals in Europe and North America have seen a series of victories for gay rights, but many in Russia hide their identities out of fear of discrimination. Those concerns are borne out by the stance of Russian authorities, who have repeatedly prevented gay pride rallies from taking place. Video by Ekaterina Lushnikova, RFE/RL's Russian Service

Video The Soviet Union's Nuclear Testing Grounds

It was 60 years ago, on August 29, 1949, that the Soviet Union first tested its nuclear arsenal. In the first of many tests, an atomic bomb was detonated at the Semipalatinsk test site, which would become a main hub of the arms race over the next 40 years.

Video Moldovan Hip-Hop Reveals 20 Years Of Lost Illusions

The members of hip-hop group NotaBene have grown up in an independent, but struggling, post-Soviet Moldova. In their lyrics and in an interview, the rappers address their concerns about inequality, corruption in government, and widespread emigration. Produced by Paul Hodorogea, RFE/RL's Moldova Service

Video The USSR's Last Gasp

On August 19, 1991, hard-line members of the Communist Party and KGB attempted to seize control of the country from Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. The coup's rapid failure paved the way for the collapse of the Soviet Union by the end of the year. In this video, RFE/RL journalists remember their impressions from those three dramatic days.

Video In The Shadow Of Chornobyl

Radiation still plagues the west Russian village of Mirny decades after the infamous nuclear disaster.

Video Swat's Female Dancers Struggle With Taliban's Legacy

Although Taliban extremists were driven out of the Swat Valley in 2009, their prohibition on music, and especially women in the arts, has done lasting damage to Swat's musical culture.

Video A Glass Of Wine With Enemy Soldiers

When war broke out between Georgia and Russia on August 8, 2008, two Georgian pensioners -- Leyla, a former dancer, and her husband Kolya -- found themselves at the center of the action. In this video, Leyla tells RFE/RL about their experiences as Russian soldiers moved in to the village of Nikozi.

Video Breaking The Ramadan Fast

Members of the Alekozai family sit down for iftar, the evening meal during the holy month of Ramadan, and explain what foods they share to break their fast together.

Video Archive

Audio Slide Shows

New Year's Resolutions

Egyptians' Wishes For 2012

Day Of Mourning

Festival Of Ashura In Azerbaijan

Writing On The Wall

Political Graffiti In Minsk

Communist Constructions

Architecture Of The USSR

Spring Passage

Azerbaijani Herders Head To The Mountains

Outrage In Minsk

Clashes Erupt As Lukashenka Claims Victory

Islam And Modernity

Uzbek Women Today

Gay Rights

Pride Parade In Belgrade

Militants From Madrassahs

The Roots Of The Taliban

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