The Iranian authorities, who already block access to over 5 million websites, have decided to take additional measures to restrict Internet access and crack down on bloggers. Tehran's chief prosecutor has said those behind irreligious and immoral websites would be "harshly confronted," and his office has set up a special department to monitor websites and blogs.
Iraq's Shi'ite-dominated government faces an ongoing challenge that will either help bridge the country's sectarian divide or widen it. The test is transitioning more than 25,000 Sons of Iraq volunteers in parts of the so-called Sunni Triangle from U.S to Iraqi control.
The telephone lines are cut, journalists are harassed, and the candidates won't speak to you. For independent journalists, covering Turkmenistan's parliamentary elections on December 14 is far from easy. We asked the director of RFE/RL's Turkmen Service, Oguljamal Yazliyeva, about the challenges she and her colleagues face.
Sazak Durdymuradov, a journalist, teacher, and activist from Bakharden district in Turkmenistan's Akhal Province, had his candidacy to run in the country's parliamentary elections on December 14 rejected by Turkmen officials, for unknown reasons. In an interview with Nazar Hudayberdi of RFE/RL's Turkmen Service, Durdymuradov says he is concerned for the safety of himself and his family.
Not only do many Turkmen think this weekend's parliamentary vote will not bring any change, but many do not even know the elections are taking place.
Voters in Turkmenistan go to the polls today to elect an expanded parliament. While there are a few interesting twists to the story, the ending will no doubt have a familiar ring.
One of the economic sectors hardest hit by the global financial crisis is the car-making industry. What is happening to the global car market and where do things go from here? RFE/RL correspondent Charles Recknagel asked Jason Stein, publisher of the Munich-based journal "Automotive News Europe."
President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's critics have long accused him of mishandling the economy, resulting in runaway inflation and creeping poverty. But now unemployement is rising -- and with it social discontent.
Today would have been Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's 90th birthday. Even before the end of Nikita Khrushchev's thaw, Solzhenitsyn had become a banned writer and his works began a long period of secret, underground existence. Only a few people were involved in this secret work. RFE/RL spoke to one of them -- linguist Leonid Krysin.
The spotlight is on Jamaat-ud-Dawa after the UN has formally linked the Pakistan-based charity organization and its leader to a recognized terrorist group, Lashkar-e-Taiba. RFE/RL's Abubakar Siddique looks at the charity's origins and its alleged ties to militants.
RFE/RL's Russian Service spoke with former Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukovsky about the importance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, its role in the demise of the Soviet Union, and its potential to influence the situation in Russia.
Sixty years ago, the UN adopted a milestone document that provided impetus to the human rights movement and inspired standard-bearers of peace, equality, and justice. How is it holding up?
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