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Don Hill

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July 21, 2004
Afghanistan: Karzai Removes Militia Leaders From Military Posts

Hamid Karzai Afghan Transitional Administration Chairman Hamid Karzai took further steps on 20 July to try to expand the central government's control over districts largely ruled by independent and combative militia leaders. Karzai's spokesman said the decision is designed to increase stability as the country prepares for nationwide presidential elections in October.
July 20, 2004
Iraq: Assailants Shoot Down Regional Council Member In Al-Basrah

Unknown assailants -- presumably insurgents opposed to the U.S.-backed interim government -- shot and killed a member of the regional council in Iraq's southern city of Al-Basrah today. It was the latest in what appears to be a systematic series of targeted attacks against figures in the new administration. RFE/RL reports that insurgents are employing a growing variety of methods in their assaults despite the U.S.-led coalition's handover of sovereignty to the interim Iraqi government on 28 June.
June 30, 2004
Turkmenistan: Hidden Resurgence Of Plague Threatens

Say the word "plague" and what immediately comes to many minds are three dreadful scourges of Black Death that killed nearly 200 million people in Europe and China in the fifth and sixth centuries, between the eighth and 14th centuries, and in the mid-19th century. Modern antibiotics have stripped the plague of much of its virulence, but it retains its dread.
June 25, 2004
Uzbekistan: Ambassador Juggles Human Rights Questions

For years now, Uzbekistan has been the target of one-sided criticism over its human rights record -- one-sided because the Uzbek government of President Islam Karimov customarily declines to respond to its critics. Now the Uzbek ambassador to the United States has appeared at a hearing of the U.S. Helsinki Commission. The ambassador fielded a number of difficult questions.
June 23, 2004
World: Report Says Revulsion Over Death Penalty Growing

Prague, 23 June 2004 (RFE/RL) -- A Rome-based international anti-death penalty group says revulsion against state-mandated killings is spreading worldwide.
June 23, 2004
Russia: Jehovah's Witnesses Come Under Pressure From Officials

The Christian denomination Jehovah's Witnesses has its headquarters in New York and claims 6 million members around the world. The group's fundamental guiding belief is that the Bible contains the literal word of God. Its followers are widely known for their active recruiting of new members and their opposition to laws that run counter to their beliefs. These are characteristics that have bought them trouble in many places. Among the latest of these are Russia and Greece.
June 18, 2004
Iran: UN Nuclear Board 'Deplores' Lack Of Full Cooperation

Prague, 18 June 2004 (RFE/RL) -- The UN nuclear watchdog's governing board unanimously adopted a resolution today "deploring" Iran's lack of full cooperation in disclosing the extent and details of its nuclear program.
June 18, 2004
World: Muslims In The West Are Talking, But Is Anyone Listening?

In Saudi Arabia, six prominent Muslim clerics go on television to denounce deadly attacks by Muslim extremists on Westerners there. In the United States, an interfaith group calling itself "FaithfulAmerica.org" raises thousands of dollars from ordinary citizens to buy time on Arab television networks to apologize for what they call the "sinful" behavior of U.S. soldiers in Iraq prisons. These could be welcome words on both sides of the world. But knowledgeable observers say, first, that these sentiments are nothing new, and, second, that they are likely to fall on deaf ears.
June 09, 2004
World: Writing Campaigns Encouraging Bureaucrats To Come In From The Fog

International organizations such as the European Union, the United Nations, NATO, and the International Monetary Fund have raised bureaucracy to new heights. And regulations, laws, and legal documents have become entangled in ever more incomprehensible wording. RFE/RL reports that bureaucracies and everyday writers around the world are taking steps to clean up their use of language.
June 04, 2004
Western Press Review: Commentators String Beads Of Terror

Prague, 4 June 2004 (RFE/RL) -- Western press commentary today ranges over a variety of topics -- politics, oil, Iraq, film, history, and, certainly, the resignation yesterday of CIA Director George Tenet. But, like a bead necklace, a common string binds all the topics together. That is the worldwide concern with terrorism.
June 03, 2004
Western Press Review: Commentary Differs On Cost Of High Price Of Oil

Prague, 3 June 2004 (RFE/RL) -- With no major news events dominating the public agenda, Western press commentary examines a variety of issues today. Several editorials examine oil prices, supply, and influence.
June 02, 2004
Western Press Review: Commentary Scrutinizes New Iraq Leadership

Prague, 2 June 2004 (RFE/RL) -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan says this week's formation of an interim Iraqi government was an important step, but acknowledged that the process to reach that point had been imperfect. Western newspapers reviewed today examine that process critically.
June 01, 2004
Western Press Review: Commentary Addresses Situation In Iraq, Oil

Prague, 1 June 2004 (RFE/RL) -- The invasion, occupation and governance of Iraq dominate commentary in Western newspapers surveyed in our press review today.
May 14, 2004
Western Press Review: Commentary Looks At Surprise in India, Crisis In Iraq

Prague, 14 May 2004 (RFE/RL) -- What "The New York Times" calls "a stunning political shift" in India seizes the attention of Western press commentators today, sharing editorial space with the crisis in Iraq.
April 30, 2004
World: Press Freedom Day Marks General Decline In Access To Independent Media

UNESCO is marking World Press Freedom Day with a two-day conference beginning 2 May in Belgrade. The theme is "Media in Conflict and Countries in Transition." There will be speeches by international figures, an award to an imprisoned journalist, and workshops on advancing the cause of press freedom. The conference follows immediately after the publication of a study by the New York-based NGO Freedom House that concludes that press freedom is on the decline around the world -- from Italy to Afghanistan.
April 29, 2004
EU: Scholars Ponder Religion's Role In The ‘New Europe’?

As the member countries of the European Union have risen in industry and wealth, many have diminished in attention to religion. Most of the 10 new countries that join the EU on 1 May are more religious-minded than the majority of their older EU brethren.
April 23, 2004
Iraq: Ideologies, Fog Of War Multiply Dangers For Press

The fog of war Journalists have always died in wars. Spears and arrows, bullets and bombs make no distinctions between combatants and scribes. So, in a way, the deaths so far of 26 journalists and their assistants in the current war in Iraq are just a new chapter in an old story.
April 12, 2004
World: English Language Gets New Surge of Growth

At the start of the last century and for decades before, French was the universal language of world diplomacy and often international society. In much of Central Europe in the past, German was frequently a common second language of educated people. During the Soviet years, Russian was necessary, even required, in the Soviet sphere. Now, however, English is speeding around the world as the "lingua franca."
April 07, 2004
Germany: Muslim Groups Denounce Terrorism

Two Muslim umbrella organizations in Germany have issued a statement condemning all forms of terrorism as un-Islamic. One group represents Muslims of varied backgrounds, the other mostly ethnic Turkish Muslims. Both in recent years have denounced terrorism repeatedly, but this is the first time they have issued a joint statement. A spokesman for the groups told RFE/RL that they hope with one voice to make their distaste for terrorism abundantly and finally clear. But at least one expert critic said she remains unconvinced.
March 24, 2004
Middle East: Rantisi, Mashal Chosen To Lead Hamas After Yassin Assassination

Word of Israel's assassination of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin flashed around the world on 22 March. Observers wondered how the killing would affect the militant Palestinian group. As RFE/RL reports, the two figures who have risen to take Yassin's place are among the group's most combative members, and are both opposed to any accommodation with Israel.

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