February 2012
83 posts
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Era of Happiness Declared in Turkmenistan
State-run media in Turkmenistan have declared that the Central Asian country has entered a new “era of supreme happiness of the stable state” in the wake of President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov’s landslide reelection victory.
RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service reports that the theme of “supreme happiness” over the president’s second term in office was...
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Report: Plot To Kill Putin Foiled
Security forces in Russia and Ukraine say they have thwarted a plot to assassinate Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
According to a report on Russian state-run television on February 27, the alleged plot was due to be carried out shortly after Russia’s presidential election on March 4. Channel 1’s report showed separate footage of two alleged plotters saying they were ordered by...
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An Iranian film and a Pakistani documentary have won Oscar prizes at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles.
In a rare gesture of approval toward the country’s renowned movie industry, Iranian state-run television on February 27 described Farhadi’s win as a victory over arch-enemy Israel. Israel also had a film, “Footnote,” in the best foreign-film film competition.
The state...
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RFE/RL's Exclusive Interview with Mikhail...
RFE/RL has conducted an exclusive interview with imprisoned Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky in which he urges Russians to snub presidential favorite Vladimir Putin and vote for “alternative” candidates in the March 4 election. The interview (full version in Russian) was conducted via email through Khodorkovsky’s lawyer. RFE/RL provides extensive coverage of recent...
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Feature story on Afghanistan’s displaced, @amnesty report says 400 new people displaced every day, new residents have been forced to seek refuge in caves, unable to return to areas they originally fled due to insecurity and the destruction of their former homes and villages…[READ MORE]
Gulsom, a 34-year-old mother of seven, has been living in the Bamiyan caves for over five years.
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Putin speaking to a rally of his supporters at Luzhniki in Moscow: “The battle for Russia goes on. Victory will be ours.”
NOTE: The phrase “Victory will be ours” is often associated in Russia with a radio address by Soviet government chief Vyacheslav Molotov on the day of the Nazi invasion, June 22, 1941
Photos and Video of today’s rally, which coincides...
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WatchSee @SvobodaRadio’s video and photos in English and Russian.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has addressed a massive rally at a stadium in central Moscow called to support his campaign for the presidency in the March 4 election. Police have been quoted as saying upward of 100,000 people attended the rally at Luzhniki Stadium…
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Valery Nalimov, a cossack commander in uniform on today’s pro-Putin rally in Russia: “On Defenders [of the Fatherland] Day, we are defending our fatherland and defending the presidential candidate, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, and we are helping him to become the president. And we will help our people to serve the fatherland. If there will be any bad work, if bureaucrats act up, we...
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@lukeallnutt: How The Kremlin Is Using Sex To Sell...
“I’m scared,” the girl says, “I want my choice to be based on love.” The doctor, his glasses perched on his nose, looks down at her reclined on a leather chair. “I understand you, it’s always scary the first time.” The doctor then points to a copy of “Time” magazine with Putin on the cover and says, “Trust is love.” Sweeping...
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Iranian authorities are introducing uniforms for female civil servants as of March 21, the start of the Persian new year.
Iranian news agencies report that the uniforms will be designed according to religious and cultural criteria, and that the main colors of the clothing will be navy blue and dark grey…[READ MORE]
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“When a nation decides to make a stand, sanctions and political pressure will have no impact.”
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaking today (February 22) in a televised speech.
The latest on Iran in English and Persian.
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@AzadiRadio interviews #NATO #ISAF spokesman Jacobson on protests against Koran burning: “It is a clear mistake. It is just not understanding what it meant to take religious material for destruction and in particular, to have Korans involved in it. It is a very clear mistake.”
Photo by Radio Azadi’s Sayaed Jan Sabawoon.
Read more about the protests and follow us on...
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WatchThe leader of the separatist Georgian region of Abkhazia has survived his sixth assassination attempt according to his spokesman…[READ MORE]
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Iran's National Internet Gets Late Spring Launch...
Iranian officials have been promising the launch of a national Internet since at least 2006, but have provided little details about its scope. Slowly, details are emerging in one of the world’s toughest Internet censorship regimes.
On February 20, for the second time in recent weeks, web users in Iran reported that their access to Gmail, Yahoo mail, and HTTPS websites had been blocked.Some...
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'Favored Daughter' Sets Sights On Afghan...
Left on the side of a street to die when she was an infant, Fawzia Koofi entered a world that did not want her…[READ MORE]
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Brian Whitmore discusses Russian elections on Kojo...
Brian Whitmore, RFE/RL Senior Correspondent and author of The Power Vertical blog, discusses Russia on The Kojo Nnamdi Show. Listen live at 1 pm EST at WAMU’s 88.5 or get the recap after the wrap.
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Belarusian Judge Rules Activist's Trial May...
VITSEBSK, Belarus — A judge in the eastern Belarusian city of Vitsebsk has ruled that Syarhey Kavalenka’s health is “satisfactory” and that the trial of the opposition activist can proceed.
As the trial got under way on February 21, relatives said they were shocked over Kavalenka’s frail appearance due to a hunger strike. Kavalenka, who was arrested in December 2011...
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Information War Highlights Intensified Fighting In...
Over a period of five days last week, militants in Chechnya inflicted serious casualties on pro-Moscow Chechen forces in a series of coordinated attacks in adverse weather conditions…[READ MORE]
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Scientists in Russia say they have managed to regenerate a flower from seeds that squirrels stashed underground some 30,000 years ago.
Some experts suggest the breakthrough could lead to the possible resurrection of Ice Age mammals…[READ MORE]
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Frud Bezhan and @RadioAzadi report on Afghan officials’ decision to omit the past four decades from history books FYI @atnussan @mattaikins…[READ MORE]
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A Student Takes On The Iranian Regime ... Then...
@GEsfandiari interviews 22-year-old Olad Azimi, (pictured below) one of those voices who has been pressured so much by the #Iranian authorities, he has been forced into exile…[READ MORE]
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@RadioAzadi has an exclusive story on a Kandahar governor fooled by fake member of parliament.
Bismallah Afghanmal, a Kandahar representative to Afghanistan’s upper house of parliament, told RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan on February 15 that a man identifying himself as Mohammad Asif Sarhadi, a member of Afghanistan’s upper house of parliament from Ghor Province, met with the...
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Iran Developing Cult Of Personality Around Slain...
RFE/RL’s @GEsfandiari looks into Iran’s “nuclear martyrs.” [READ MORE]
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The Empire Strikes Back -- At Independent Media
An excellent piece by Brian Whitmore’s @PowerVertical, which looks at Putin’s move control the media narrative by reining in independent voices — much as he was early in his presidency when he oversaw the takeover of the once-independent NTV station…[READ MORE]
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Media Manipulation in Pre-Election Russia
RFE/RL reported earlier this week on the Kremlin’s move to restructure Ekho Moskvy, the nation’s most liberal radio station, after it criticized Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Since then, Putin has had a starring role in several controversial power plays. # The Power Vertical by Brian Whitmore looks at Putin’s next move to control the media narrative by reining in...
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WatchFirst “Putin’s Arrest” and now “Berlusputin.” Someone is getting an awful lot of fantasy screen time this week!
Theater group Teatr.doc premiered a new political satire on February 14 in Moscow. Director Varvara Faer explains that “Berlusputin” is a reinterpretation for Russian audiences of a play by Italian Nobel laureate Dario Fo, in which scientists...
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Afghan Minister Defends TV Head-Scarves Request
The move was criticized by journalists and characterized by some as an effort by the Afghan authorities to placate the Taliban amid reported peace negotiations involving Afghan and U.S. officials with the Islamist group.
Nasrin, a newscaster at Kabul’s Ariana Television Network, told @RadioAzadi that female presenters already faced a lot of family and societal pressure because of their...
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WatchGordana Knezevic from @RSE_Balkan spoke with actress Angelina Jolie in Sarajevo about her directorial debut, “In the Land of Blood and Honey.” The film, a drama set during Bosnia’s war of the 1990s, premiered in the Bosnian capital on February 14…[READ MORE]
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“Last year you promised to take me to the Kremlin, but you never did.”
“I invite you [to visit the Kremlin] on May 9. We will be celebrating Victory Day, so come for the celebration.”
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin speaking to a seven-year-old girl, Sonya, a patient at the Federal Children’s Oncology Center in Moscow, during Putin’s tour of the center...
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Attack Of The Cloned Websites...This Time In...
A website has been set up to mirror the site of RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service, in what could be a phishing scheme to harvest user information…[READ MORE]
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@PowerVertical: A funny thing happened when Vladimir Putin’s election campaign applied for permission from Moscow authorities to hold a mass rally on the capital’s main downtown thoroughfare. The mayor’s office balked…[READ MORE]
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Iranian Activists, Journalists Receive Threatening...
In addition to this report from Golnaz Esfandiari, Radio Farda web editor Fred Petrossians covers the threats over at Global Voices.
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Fondue? Russia says "Fon-DON'T!" to Ukraine's...
A dispute over Ukrainian cheese is threatening to further damage relations between Russia and Ukraine, where officials are accusing Moscow of political blackmail…[READ MORE]
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Ekho Moskvy radio commentator Matvei Ganapolsky speaking on Dozhd TV in #Moscow about the dissolving of the Ekho Moskvy board of directors.
“Of course, I doubt that Vladimir Putin gave an order to do something about Ekho Moskvy. But don’t forget that Gazprom Media is a state organization, so they feel they need to make some body movements — I’m quoting [Aleksei]...
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Turkmenistan: My Personality Cult Is Better Than...
Large billboards bearing Berdymukhammedov’s face now dot Turkmen cities; office walls are adorned with his portraits…[READ MORE]
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In Armenia, RFE/RL’s @armenialiberty Brings Water Controversy To Public Light…[READ MORE]
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WatchChinese Female Bodyguards In High Demand
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Turkmen President Reelected With 97 Percent Of...
The outcome is seen as unsurprising in the autocratic Central Asian nation, where Berdymukhammedov was facing off against seven largely unknown nominal opponents and the election processs was seen as a mere formality…[READ MORE]
A woman dressed in traditional Turkmen clothing casts her ballot for president at a polling station in Ashgabat.
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