December 2011
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Imprisoned Belarus Activist Attempts Suicide
MINSK — Belarusian prison officials say jailed businessman and opposition activist Mikalay Autukhovich slashed his wrists to protest his treatment in prison, RFE/RL’s Belarus Service, Radio Svaboda, reports…[READ MORE]
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Turkey Cuts French Ties After 'Genocide' Vote
ISTANBUL — Turkey has responded angrily to a French legislative vote on criminalizing genocide denial by halting some military cooperation with France, highlighting Ankara’s long-standing refusal to recognize the mass killings of Armenians at the twilight of the Ottoman Empire as genocide…[READ MORE]
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RFE/RL Investigates Uzbek Facebook Hoax and Deadly...
RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service found itself part of the news while covering the mysterious death of a university student who had purportedly killed herself after being released from police custody. The convoluted story includes a suicide hoax, an assassination plot, and online social activism, which began unraveling as Radio Ozodlik uncovered the real story behind Uzbek activist “Gulsumoi...
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“Of course, it is deeply unsettling that my conversation were made public. I...”
– Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.
Nemtsov and Yevgenia Chirikova are speaking today (December 20) in a joint appearance on Dozhd TV (Rain TV) in Moscow about recordings of Nemtsov’s recent personal conversations published by LifeNews.ru in which he appeared to insult fellow opposition...
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After Unrest in Western Kazakhstan, An Uneasy Calm
See Radio Azattyq’s photos from the recent unrests in western Kazakhstan.
The latest report- Kazakh Authorities Try To Extinguish Unrest In Unruly West
Follow the latest news from Kazakhstan by Radio Azattyq.
After riots in the western Kazakh town of Zhanaozen claimed at least 13 lives, the city has experienced an uneasy calm after a heavy deployment of police. RFE/RL’s Kazakh...
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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.
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“The Arab Spring is related to the Prague Spring through the attitude on freedom,...”
– Iraqi writer and journalist Mehdi al-Saeed speaking Monday (December 19) to RFE/RL’s Radio Free Iraq.
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Belarus Marks One Year Since Lukashenka's Disputed...
Critics of Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s reelection last December are marking the first anniversary of that divisive vote, which ushered in rare mass protests and a ruthless crackdown through beatings, jailings, and targeted harassment, RFE/RL’s Belarus Service reports. Nearly 50,000 people rallied in Minsk on election night a year ago, when Lukashenka was declared the...
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Pakistani Group Says It's Mediating Between...
RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal reports: Pro-Taliban religious group in northern Pakistan says it is mediating between the government and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to end the two sides’ “differences.” [READ MORE]
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WatchThe world of writing and commentary has lost a giant. Check out this RFE/RL interview with Christopher Hitchens from December 2010.
Watch as Mr. Hitchens talks politice, Russia, Afghanistan and everything in between in the 2010 interview with RFE/RL.
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Bloody clashes broke out on the outskirts of the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, as workers of the State Oil Company were demolishing illegally-built homes. Some home owners who tried to prevent the demolition were badly beaten. RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service
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RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service Radio Azadliq’s correspondent, Nushabe Fatullayeva was detained today by the Presidential Security Guard while she was filming protesters who were protesting in front of the Presidential Administration against the cutting of trees by construction companies in their living areas. She has just been released.
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Putin's Q&A, Karachi's Madrasah Dungeon, Afghan...
Ever had one of those weeks? RFE/RL has had a tremendous run of coverage, breaking news with deeper analysis and exclusive reporting. Russia # Russian stock shares have fallen more than 10 percent since the disputed December 4 election, and firms with close ties to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have taken the biggest hit. In an interview with Moscow Correspondent Tom Balmforth, Tom Mundy,...
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Putin Affirms Duma Vote In Call-In Show
“That people want to express their opinion about what is happening in the country and the economic, social, and political sphere is an entirely normal thing, as long as they adhere to the letter of the law, of course,” Putin said. “I am counting on it staying that way. I saw the clips on television of the mainly young, active people...
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“Putin said he was “amused” by the image of a ballot cast for the Yabloko party in London and signed by the voter: “Putin, [expletive] off.” However the issue of the editor-in-chief of “Kommersant” getting fired over the publication of the image wasn’t raised.”
—Yury Pilipenko, editor in chief of the Russian weekly...
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U.S. Military Formally Ends Iraq Mission
U.S. officials in Baghdad have spoken of the sacrifices made by both Americans and Iraqis at a formal ceremony marking the end of U.S. military operations in Iraq after nearly nine years of war.
In Fallujah — a city west of Baghdad that remains deeply scarred by two U.S. military offensives in 2004 — hundreds of residents on December 14 marked the impending departure of U.S. forces by...
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“Time chose the protester, the global protester, as Time’s 2011 Person of...”
– Time Magazine International editor Jim Frederick speaking Wednesday (December 14) to Reuters in New York.
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“With regard to the ‘colored revolutions,’ in my opinion, everything...”
– Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin speaking today (December 15) in a nationally broadcast question-and-answer session in Moscow.
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Children Describe Torture Dungeon At Pakistani Madrasah
KARACHI, Pakistan — Impoverished families who sent their children to a madrasah in northern Karachi thought they were paying for drug-rehabilitation treatment and Islamic education.
But children as young as 7 who lived through the ordeal say the school was a center of torture where they spent more time shackled and being beaten than...
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How Many Demonstrated For The Kremlin? And How...
United Russia may have been hoping a red-blooded show of support at the pro-Kremlin rally might offset its considerable PR losses from the weekend.
RFE/RL Russian Service correspondents Yury Timofeyev and Irina Chevtayeva spoke to several protesters who claimed to have been paid for their time. One man, Aleksandr, said he had been brought on a bus from Zelenograd and promised 500 rubles ($16)....
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Explainer: Iran's Threat to Blockade The Strait Of...
A hard-line Iranian newspaper considered to speak for Iran’s supreme leader has come out in support of closing the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, the world’s most important oil shipping lane, as punishment against countries that have sanctioned Tehran over its suspect nuclear program.
A December 13 editorial in “Keyhan” asks, “Why has the Islamic Republic...
