Robert Parsons

July 09, 2005

U.K.: Country Struggles To Confront Security Threat

The 7 July bombings in London have dramatically highlighted the difficulty security services have around the world of defending their societies against determined, well-organized, but essentially low-technology terrorism. In Britain the carnage in London has strengthened the hand of those who argue that Western societies need to toughen up their security, even if that means sacrificing some of the liberties that make them distinctive.

July 08, 2005

U.K.: Day After Bombing, Londoners Show Stoical Side

One day after four bombs killed more than 50 people in London and injured hundreds more, the people of Britain’s capital are trying to return to life as normal. The transport system, which yesterday was thrown into chaos by the bombings, is mostly up and running again, although the stations directly affected by the explosions are still closed as forensic experts comb through the debris for clues as to the bombers origins.

July 07, 2005

U.K.: London Explosions Interrupt G-8 Summit

Blair: "Just as it is reasonably clear that this is a terrorist attack or a series of terrorist attacks, it is also reasonably clear that it is designed and aimed to coincide with the opening of the G-8" Today's deadly explosions in London have disrupted what was to be a full day of talks on global warming and world trade between the world's seven most powerful industrialized countries plus Russia, the Group of Eight (G-8). The host of the talks, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, left the G-8 summit to return temporarily to London. In a brief statement, he said the blasts were timed with the opening of the summit, which had been hailed as one of the most important in the history of the G-8.

July 06, 2005

World: Can G-8 Summit Expectations Be Met?

The leaders of the Group of Eight (G-8) major industrialised states, including Russia, are gathering at the Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland for a summit that has attracted more interest and expectation than any other in years. Top of the agenda are climate change and poverty reduction in Africa. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who holds the G-8 presidency and is hosting the three-day summit, is pressing for major progress in both areas but faces tough opposition, in particular from U.S. President George W. Bush.

July 05, 2005

World: Leaders Gather For G-8 Summit

One of the summit buildings in Gleneagles, Scotland Prague, 5 July 2005 (RFE/RL) -- World leaders are arriving at Gleneagles in Scotland for the annual summit of the Group of Eight (G-8) major industrialized states, including Russia.

June 17, 2005

Russia: Pro-Moscow Chechen Official Confirms Atrocities

Pro-Moscow Chechen security forces carry out a raid (file photo) A leading human rights official in the Russian-backed administration in Chechnya says tens of thousands of Chechen civilians have disappeared since 1999. Nurdi Nukhazhiev said that many of the accusations made by human rights groups against the Russian armed forces -- among them that they have targeted civilians – were true. He said there was not a single Chechen family that had not suffered in the first and second Chechen wars.

June 16, 2005

China: Dramatic Footage Shows Farmers Rioting Over Land

Dramatic amateur video footage has emerged showing deadly clashes between Chinese farmers and local security officials. The violence broke out last weekend, with six people dying and hundreds being injured. Chinese state media said residents were resisting the takeover of their property by an electricity company that wants to build a power station on their land. Disputes over land are becoming increasingly common in China as industry rapidly expands.

June 15, 2005

Russia: Putin Seeks Breakthrough Agreement With Japan

Putin (left) with Toyota Chairman Okuda at the St. Petersburg plant's foundation-stone ceremony on 14 June Russian President Vladimir Putin says he wants to visit Japan in November and that he hopes to use the visit to conclude a peace treaty with Tokyo, formally concluding Second World War hostilities between the two countries. But so far any agreement has been held up by a territorial dispute over four islands, known as the southern Kuriles by Russia and as the Northern Territories by Japan. They were seized by the Soviet Union from Japan at the end of the war. RFE/RL looks at whether a deal may be in the offing.

June 15, 2005

Georgia: Analyst Ghia Nodia Assesses Saakashvili's Attempts To Transform Country

Ghia Nodia speaking at RFE/RL In an extensive interview last week with RFE/RL, Georgian political scientist Ghia Nodia evaluated the success of President Mikheil Saakashvili's efforts over the past 18 months to transform Georgia from a corrupt "failed state" into a flourishing democracy with a market economy. At the same time, Nodia admitted that Saakashvili's inconsistent and sometimes contradictory statements have given rise to confusion about his "real" agenda.

June 13, 2005

British Prime Minister In Moscow On G-8 Mission

Is Blair seeking respite in Moscow? (file photo) Prague, 13 June 2005 (RFE/RL) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair is in Moscow today at the start of a whirlwind four-stop tour of European capitals. He hopes to win the backing of Russian President Vladimir Putin for his plans on aid for Africa and climate change ahead of the G-8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, in July.

June 10, 2005

Bosnia-Herzegovina: Net Tightens Around Key Serb War Crimes Suspect

Ratko Mladic Serbia is coming under increasing international pressure to capture General Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military chief wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia on charges of genocide. The hunt for Mladic has stepped up since the recent screening of a video, which appears to show Serbian paramilitaries executing Muslim civilians at Srebrenica in 1995. Washington says it is confident General Mladic's days of freedom are numbered and, for the first time, the Bosnian Serb government has admitted that police forces from Serbia took part in the massacre at Srebrenica.

June 07, 2005

EU: Britain Shelves Plans For Referendum, Leaving EU In Political Disarray

Jacques Chirac and Tony Blair (file photo) Europe is in political disarray after Britain effectively killed the European Union constitution yesterday by putting its plans for a referendum on hold. Despite pressure from Germany and France to continue with the ratification process, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said there is no point in pursuing the matter further. And, as European leaders prepare to gather in Brussels on 16 June, more problems loom. Britain finds itself isolated on the new seven-year EU budget, and there is increasing disagreement about how to proceed with enlargement.

May 30, 2005

Bulgaria: Sofia Tries To Save Medics From Death Sentence In Libya

Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov has completed a visit to Libya aimed at saving the lives of five Bulgarian medics sentenced to death by a Libyan court in 2004. The five, together with a Palestinian doctor, are accused of infecting hundreds of children with HIV. The accused, who have spent six years in prison, insist they are innocent and say they were tortured into making confessions. The case has severely strained relations between Bulgaria and Libya. Libya's Supreme Court is to due to rule on an appeal by the six on 31 May.

May 30, 2005

Russia Agrees To Pull Troops From Georgia By 2008

Georgian Foreign Minister Zourabichvili Prague, 30 May 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Russia and Georgia have signed an agreement on the withdrawal of Russian military bases from Georgia by 2008. The presence of the troops has bedeviled Russian-Georgian relations for the most part of the last decade. The agreement was signed in Moscow by Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili and her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

May 27, 2005

Blast At Muslim Shrine In Pakistan Kills At Least 20

27 May 2005 (RFE/RL) -- An explosion in the Pakistani capital Islamabad has wrought carnage at a Muslim shrine, where thousands of Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims had gathered for a religious festival, in a suspected bomb attack that has killed at least 20 people and injured at least 65.

May 26, 2005

Sudan: African Union Appeals For More Money For Darfur Mission

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan was in Ethiopia today to chair a one-day conference of leading international diplomats on the emergency in Darfur, Sudan. The African Union (AU) has deployed some 2,300 troops to monitor a shaky cease-fire in the region but says that without more substantial financial support from its donor countries the mission in Darfur could fail. The AU says it wants $460 million to triple its peacekeeping force.

May 25, 2005

Iraq: Website Suggests Leader Of Al-Qaeda In Iraq Wounded

Mus'ab al-Zarqawi A website controlled by the Al-Qaeda Organization for Holy Struggle in Iraq has claimed that the most wanted opponent of the United States in Iraq, Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, has been wounded. The message did not include details but called on Muslims to pray for his recovery. Al-Zarqawi has a U.S. bounty of $25 million on his head and is considered to be the mastermind behind many suicide attacks, bombings, kidnappings, and executions of foreigners. U.S. military officials have reacted cautiously to the news, however.

May 24, 2005

China/Japan: New Sour Note On Bilateral Relations

China's strained relations with Japan took another turn for the worse yesterday when Vice Prime Minister Wu Yi cancelled a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, and cut short her visit to Japan. Beijing blamed the decision on remarks made by the Japanese premier about visiting a controversial war shrine, which honours convicted war criminals as well as Japan's 2.5 million war dead. China has repeatedly criticised visits by Japanese leaders to the shrine.

May 23, 2005

Azerbaijan: Crackdown Tarnishes Aliyev's Image

Many have accused police of being heavy-handed with demonstrators Prague, 23 May 2005 (RFE/RL) -- There has been sharp international criticism of the way the authorities in Azerbaijan prevented opposition activists from holding a demonstration in Baku on 21 May. The United States and the OSCE were among the most outspoken critics of the police's use of violence. Dozens of opposition members were arrested and some remain in detention.

May 20, 2005

Russia: Court Clears Soldiers Of Murder In Chechnya

Rights groups fear the ruling will give Russian troops free reign to kill civilians A jury in a Russian military court has found soldiers from an elite military unit not guilty of murdering six Chechen civilians at a checkpoint in Chechnya in 2002. Unusually, the men admitted carrying out the killings but denied responsibility for them, saying they were acting under orders. Human rights activists fear the decision will encourage further abuses in Chechnya.