RFE/RL
RFE/RL broadcasts in 21 countries in 28 languages, including Russia, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Central Asia. Follow us on Twitter @RFERL and Facebook
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When one of the world’s most beloved #Pashtun singers announced that she was giving up music to follow her faith, it came as more than a shock to fans and supporters — some took it as a national tragedy.
Nazia Iqbal surprised concertgoers in Dubai on January 21 when she announced that they were seeing her last performance. She was leaving music, she said, to live the “life of a devoted Muslim woman.”
“Now you are not going to see my face,” the popular Pakistani singer said, “because I will be wearing the Islamic veil.” [READ MORE]
Check out Nazia Iqbal’s music video above.
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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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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, the chief strategist at Otkritie Capital, suggests an intriguing twist in the Kremlin’s rocky road: Medvedev could stand down as president and Putin could come in as caretaker president, paving the way for a “very neat, smooth transition through to the presidential ballot.” Brian Whitmore examines this theory and other Kremlin power shuffles in his Power Vertical blog.
For more news on the post-election fallout, follow Radio Svoboda’s extensive coverage.
Pakistan
# Radio Mashaal takes a closer look at the Islamic seminary, advertised as a drug rehabilitation center and school for religious instruction, where police found dozens of abused children in shackles. The children told our correspondents horrific tales, including one young student who reported, “I have been here for three months and they were beating me more often than they were teaching me lessons [from the Koran].”
Afghanistan
# In an extensive interview today with Radio Azadi, the Afghan woman who was jailed for “forced adultery” after she was raped by a relative, imprisoned, and then pardoned amid an international outcry, said she wants to marry her attacker so her baby daughter does not grow up “as an orphan.” The woman known only as “Gulnaz” denied that she is afraid of anyone in her family and backed away from the contention that she would marry the rapist against her will — saying that it’s her choice to to marry her attacker.
Belarus
# After the December 2010 presidential election, Alyaksandr Lukashenka unleashed a massive crackdown on his political opposition that drove Belarus into even deeper diplomatic isolation. On December 19, the one year anniversary of that crackdown, Radio Svaboda’s Alexander Lukashuk and Jan Maksymiuk will host a live Facebook chat and discuss the current state of the economy, politics and freedom in what is often described as “Europe’s last dictatorship.” (Expect a mention of Lukashenka’s recent “ballsy” comment to find a way into the discussion.)
For breaking news in all RFE/RL broadcast regions, also follow us on Facebook and Twitter -
![Caption: Afghan President Hamid Karzai kisses an Afghan girl wounded in a bomb attack on a Shi’ite shrine in Kabul. The attack killed more than 50 worshippers.
RFE/RL’s Pashto language Service, Radio Mashaal was the first to break the news when a spokesman for Lashkar-e-Jangvi al Almi, a Pakistani terrorist group linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the blast in a call to Radio Mashaal.
The attack is one of the deadliest against Kabul civilians since the fall of the Taliban a decade ago, and a rare attack specifically targeting Afghanistan’s minority Shi’ite community…[READ MORE]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvvnkhycWw1qkgi6go1_500.jpg)
Caption: Afghan President Hamid Karzai kisses an Afghan girl wounded in a bomb attack on a Shi’ite shrine in Kabul. The attack killed more than 50 worshippers.
RFE/RL’s Pashto language Service, Radio Mashaal was the first to break the news when a spokesman for Lashkar-e-Jangvi al Almi, a Pakistani terrorist group linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the blast in a call to Radio Mashaal.
The attack is one of the deadliest against Kabul civilians since the fall of the Taliban a decade ago, and a rare attack specifically targeting Afghanistan’s minority Shi’ite community…[READ MORE]
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![RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal breaks the news on the claim of responsibility on the Kabul suicide attack.
RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal reported that a militant group linked to Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack, after a spokesman from the Sunni extremist group, Lashkar e-Jhangvi al-Alami, in Afghanistan called Radio Mashaal and claimed responsibility.
Naseem Shafaq, a correspondent for RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan, was near the scene of the attack in the Murad Khani neighborhood and spoke of a horrific scene minutes after the bomber struck, with many bodies ripped to pieces.
The attack is one of the deadliest against Kabul civilians since the fall of the Taliban a decade ago, and a rare attack specifically targeting Afghanistan’s minority Shi’ite community…[READ MORE]
Follow additional coverage at Radio Mashaal مشال راډیو and Azadi Radio.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvtv42TWT91qkgi6go1_500.jpg)
RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal breaks the news on the claim of responsibility on the Kabul suicide attack.
RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal reported that a militant group linked to Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack, after a spokesman from the Sunni extremist group, Lashkar e-Jhangvi al-Alami, in Afghanistan called Radio Mashaal and claimed responsibility.
Naseem Shafaq, a correspondent for RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan, was near the scene of the attack in the Murad Khani neighborhood and spoke of a horrific scene minutes after the bomber struck, with many bodies ripped to pieces.
The attack is one of the deadliest against Kabul civilians since the fall of the Taliban a decade ago, and a rare attack specifically targeting Afghanistan’s minority Shi’ite community…[READ MORE]
Follow additional coverage at Radio Mashaal مشال راډیو and Azadi Radio.
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![From Shoeshiner To Student: Radio Mashaal Report Paves Way For An Unlikely Education
A Radio Mashaal report opens new horizons for a 12-year old girl…Also read about how an NGO in Kabul, founded and led by former high-ranking Taliban officials is now funding the education of young girls…[READ MORE]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lv47fn8B6V1qkgi6go1_500.jpg)
From Shoeshiner To Student: Radio Mashaal Report Paves Way For An Unlikely Education
A Radio Mashaal report opens new horizons for a 12-year old girl…Also read about how an NGO in Kabul, founded and led by former high-ranking Taliban officials is now funding the education of young girls…[READ MORE]
