In Russia, organized crime has gotten into the DVD piracy game, and with good reason: it offers high profit margins and little risk of arrest. According to a new study from a U.S. think tank, the biggest obstacles in countering this type of crime are corruption and weak rule of law.
Iraqi farmers have suffered through two years of drought, watching as their wells dry up and dust and salt accumulate in their fields. Aid from the central government and the Red Cross might help them survive the crisis, but Iraq's overuse of water resources means it will remain vulnerable to drought for years to come.
As officials, activists, and entrepreneurs from 130 nations meet this week in Istanbul to seek better ways to manage the world's water problems, there is one solution under discussion that might seem obvious: exporting water from wet countries to dry ones.
Several high-level delegations of former U.S. officials have been in Moscow this month for meetings aimed at rejuvenating U.S.-Russian relations. But the apparent thaw between Washington and Moscow has raised concerns among some of Russia's neighbors, particularly in Ukraine and Georgia.
Across much of the non-Arab Muslim world, people are celebrating Norouz, the pre-Islamic festival that marks arrival of spring and the beginning of the new year.
The head of the Council of Europe's Chamber of Local Authorities says amendments to Azerbaijan's constitution, reportedly approved in a March 18 public referendum, violate commitments that the country made on democracy when it joined the Council of Europe. RFE/RL correspondent Ron Synovitz speaks with Ian Micallef, president of the Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, about the controversy and the punitive action Azerbaijan could face.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released a report on the global economy that tends to agree with the assessments of several other financial institutions by forecasting that the global economy will contract as much as a full percentage point this year. The U.S. economy, the world's largest, is expected to shrink by 2.6 percent, the IMF report said, while the combined economies of the eurozone members of the European Union will contract even more, by 3.2 percent. Yet emerging countries, such as China, India, and Brazil are expected to rise by about the same rate. This means the poor performance in the industrialized world will drag down the modest success of its less-industrialized neighbors.
Kyrgyzstan's Constitutional Court has announced that the presidential election will be held by late October -- nearly a year ahead of schedule. The announcement comes amid fresh concerns over the Central Asian state's economic future and claims by the political opposition of harassment by the authorities.
An Iranian blogger sent to Tehran's infamous Evin prison last month for allegedly insulting Iran's religious leaders and agitating against the government has died under questionable circumstances.
As the Obama administration nears completion of its review of U.S. strategy in Pakistan and Afghanistan, reports suggest that it's considering expanding the scope of covert drone attacks against Taliban elements ensconced outside Afghanistan. On the belief that some Taliban leaders have fled targeted areas and regrouped in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan Province, the relatively peaceful region has entered the regional security equation.
Azerbaijan says voters in the March 18 referendum have overwhelmingly approved a series of constitutional amendments -- including a provision that would allow President Ilham Aliyev to continue running for reelection indefinitely. But the president of the Council of Europe's chamber of local authorities says the amendments violate Baku's commitments on democracy, and that if the amendments are implemented, Azerbaijan could eventually be suspended from the council altogether.
Some say 33-year-old lawyer Yana Palyakova was unstable, others that she was baited into suicide by the state. As Europe seeks to normalize ties with Minsk, many are wondering if her case will be the last.
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