http://www.rferl.orgRadio Free Europe / Radio Liberty is an international news and broadcast organization serving Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Russia, the Middle East and Balkan countriesCopyright 2006 - RFE/RL, Inc.30Wed, 14 May 2008 12:18:23 GMTIn return for closer ties with Kazakhstan, visiting Tajik President Imomali Rahmon has hinted at support for a Kazakh plan to form a Central Asian Union -- an idea also backed by Kyrgyzstan but soundly rejected by Astana's main regional rival, Uzbekistan, and unlikely to please Russia.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/2304098b-94f9-4782-81cb-cbcb098eff05.htmlWed, 14 May 2008 12:18:23 GMTEuropean Union officials and experts will in the coming weeks be visiting Romania and Bulgaria to probe how well the union's two newest members are living up to their commitments to root out pervasive corruption.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/02df09c4-1d53-4caa-93bd-9f3d36f80793.htmlWed, 14 May 2008 11:47:37 GMTIs Serbia's pro-Western President Boris Tadic about to cut a deal with allies of former dictator Slobodan Milosevic?http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/56eeeb67-c0de-4d01-9cfe-fee8aed63d9c.htmlWed, 14 May 2008 11:33:50 GMTBAGHDAD -- After nearly two months of clashes, the Iraqi government and representatives of radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr announced a cease-fire for Baghdad's Al-Sadr City, where residents are said to be suffering from shortages of food and fresh water.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/da2de57d-5150-4b01-a33d-d724e8e8dada.htmlWed, 14 May 2008 11:16:50 GMTU.S. President George W. Bush has nominated John Beyrle to be Washington's next ambassador to Russia.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/19dd7c06-3f2f-4759-8497-35c20bedc3f9.htmlWed, 14 May 2008 10:58:46 GMTU.S. President George W. Bush has arrived in Israel to take part in celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Jewish state. During the visit, Bush is also expected to push for progress on his goal of reaching an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement before he leaves office in January 2009.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/557a29bc-b2d0-4698-a039-01e65a31fbd6.htmlWed, 14 May 2008 10:43:45 GMTSaudi Arabia has charged Iran with seeking a coup in Beirut, and Tehran is sharply rejecting the charges. The war of words, which directly follows the recent street fighting in Lebanon, highlights a growing sense in Riyadh and some other Mideast capitals that Iran is building its influence in the region at their expense.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/912a4441-1a98-4213-9416-e757ce6bc9a4.htmlWed, 14 May 2008 10:14:06 GMTAfter the April NATO-Russia summit in Bucharest, Russia's government promised to fight NATO membership for Georgia and Ukraine in every possible way. Yet the issue at hand was not membership, but rather issuing Kyiv and Tbilisi Membership Action Plans (MAPs) whose implementation NATO would review before deciding about membership.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/d4a03aed-2e1f-408c-933c-ac2ef352ed63.htmlWed, 14 May 2008 08:23:59 GMTRelations between Tbilisi and Moscow remain tense over Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia following a visit to Georgia by a European Union delegation and a top Washington envoy.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/b30f45b3-a526-4a5d-a904-100791b2bd4b.htmlTue, 13 May 2008 15:11:32 GMTAs Western governments rushed to praise the victory of pro-Western parties in the May 11 parliamentary elections in Serbia, the initial reaction from Moscow was muted.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/146af84c-ac74-468f-9e25-788bc458b0a4.htmlTue, 13 May 2008 15:08:17 GMTFor once, the pessimists were wrong about the Balkans.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/328896e6-ce7d-4822-af24-645c913b0374.htmlTue, 13 May 2008 14:24:41 GMTIt started as a trickle in mid-May 2005, but became a deluge as Uzbek nationals fled the eastern city of Andijon after security forces opened fire on thousands of protesters on May 13.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/cab9e6c9-5373-44fe-b88c-5d930741bcc2.htmlTue, 13 May 2008 13:46:03 GMTItaly’s new right-wing government has unveiled plans to make illegal immigration a crime punishable by up to four years in jail. According to media reports, the plans could also lead to reimposing border controls on travelers from the passport-free Schengen zone.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/df977d72-aca2-49c8-b263-fa9e2cd6cdcd.htmlTue, 13 May 2008 12:19:52 GMTPakistan is in the midst of a political crisis after nine ministers from the party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resigned from the cabinet because of a disagreement over reinstating sacked judges.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/b05b9309-b168-4263-8da1-99256106b0ce.htmlTue, 13 May 2008 11:03:09 GMTA group of European Union foreign ministers has announced a deal with Lithuania that effectively lifts Vilnius' veto on launching talks on a new partnership agreement with Russia.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/feb6c1e6-a473-4ea6-b6b4-6b0b13d316e2.htmlTue, 13 May 2008 07:25:05 GMTThree years after Uzbek security troops opened fire on a public square packed with peaceful demonstrators, President Islam Karimov's government maintains that the crackdown thwarted a plot to overthrow the government and establish Islamic rule.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/26a4002f-acf9-47cf-8565-608e15176d2e.htmlMon, 12 May 2008 14:44:58 GMTMOSCOW -- There were few surprises as newly confirmed Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced his cabinet line-up.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/81165210-464f-4c19-a396-1ff560667812.htmlMon, 12 May 2008 13:30:27 GMTThe foreign ministers of Slovenia, Sweden, Poland, and Lithuania have begun a visit to Tbilisi, the second high-profile EU visit to the Georgian capital in less than a week. While Georgia interprets the visits as clear EU backing in its escalating standoff with Russia over the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the bloc's representatives are keen to tell Tbilisi not to read too much into it.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/c1bcae2d-2391-4ec1-8c40-2990309c5486.htmlMon, 12 May 2008 10:42:28 GMTSerbia's pro-European alliance secured a surprisingly strong win in the May 11 parliamentary vote that had been widely expected to be swept by anti-EU nationalists.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/7401e245-fcc2-439d-a9f0-151dc8b92bef.htmlMon, 12 May 2008 10:33:02 GMTThe resurgence of violence in Lebanon has again raised the question of the motives and aims of Iran and Syria , which support Hizballah, one of the groups involved in the fighting. RFE/RL correspondent Andrew F. Tully put these issues before Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. Cordesman is a leading Middle East authority who has served as an intelligence analyst for the U.S. State and Defense departments.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/68b3c0d5-48bd-4dec-b452-aba2cd3cc03f.htmlMon, 12 May 2008 08:53:00 GMTNot allowed to sing in Iran about the harsh treatment of women in society, the Iranian rap group Tapesh 2012 (Pulse 2012) is doing just that -- from its base in Germany. The group's latest song, "Ma Mard Nistim" ("We Are Not Men"), focuses on the Iranian feminist movement and its struggle to overcome violence against women.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/a026d84c-0ba3-405c-b770-8cca75159500.htmlSun, 11 May 2008 16:48:07 GMTSerbs flocked to vote at a record pace in parliamentary elections today, with a pro-Western alliance led by President Boris Tadic running neck-and-neck with the nationalist Radical Party. The vote is seen as crucial as it could decide whether the Balkan country heads toward integration with the European Union or returns to isolation.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/8154519b-d96e-41f4-9d6a-9096889d7f65.htmlSun, 11 May 2008 12:46:38 GMTThe White House has urged Iran and Syria to stop their support of Hizballah following three days of clashes between government and opposition supporters in Lebanon that left at least 18 people dead.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/6cba8c75-fc78-4178-88fe-0dd9cdd47de7.htmlSat, 10 May 2008 14:08:01 GMTSerbian nationalists narrowly missed victory in the country's presidential elections at the start of the year. Now, as Serbs prepare to go to the polls yet again, for early parliamentary elections on May 11, the nationalists have worked hard to ensure they don't miss twice. And as the campaign rhetoric grows hotter, so do worries that the Balkans are heading for a new period of instability.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/206aa69d-c355-4017-a0b2-e57303433194.htmlSat, 10 May 2008 11:51:44 GMTOne half of the city of Mitrovica, in northern Kosovo, is Serbian and the other is Albanian. Almost three months ago, Kosovo proclaimed its independence from Serbia, and the aftermath has left one side jubilant and the other side angry.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/9df34fe3-225f-4c4e-b7f1-738c88f942d2.htmlSat, 10 May 2008 04:24:39 GMTAn Albanian family in Kosovo talks of their happiness since Pristina declared Kosovo's independence in February and what life was like under Serbian leadership.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/aeb99f0f-a6da-44a7-8956-72af3d4bff2e.htmlSat, 10 May 2008 04:21:27 GMTAn ethnic Serbian family in Kosovo says independence is absurd and they will never accept it. They miss the days before the disintegration of Yugoslavia.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/ec2c85a8-f44b-423e-9913-4dac54fbffb5.htmlSat, 10 May 2008 04:18:06 GMTTensions are as high as they have been in 15 years over Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia, where "frozen" conflict has given way to heated rhetoric, the downing of Georgian spy drones, and thinly veiled threats. The most serious verbal jousting has been between Moscow, which says it is boosting its peacekeeping presence in Abkhazia, and Tbilisi, which has urged international help to persuade Abkhaz sponsors in Russia to "back off.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/75f3c8dc-77f7-42f5-99ae-9eb40f2f304b.htmlFri, 09 May 2008 15:46:06 GMTMITROVICA -- Violinist Gezim Latifi, like most ethnic Albanians, was flush with optimism in the days immediately preceding Kosovar authorities' February declaration of independence from Serbia. To celebrate, the Pristina resident took the stage as part of the Kosovo Philharmonic for a gala concert that culminated in a performance of the EU anthem, Beethoven's "Ode To Joy."http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/adbb0581-4fa9-4ad9-bb4b-5421c55941f7.htmlFri, 09 May 2008 13:47:35 GMTIn Afghanistan's northeastern Badakhshan Province, Sharifa feeds rice and bread to her nieces and nephews. The six children are orphans who were left in Sharifa's care when her sister died.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/5b88dfec-e8f2-46a5-a67e-dc65095b54b4.htmlFri, 09 May 2008 12:39:41 GMTSeveral times this year, the United States has sought to rally its allies in the Arab world against what it calls Iran's continued meddling in the region.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/6ea4cc6d-6f5e-49ba-bf6e-59025b8bbcf7.htmlFri, 09 May 2008 11:23:45 GMTSerbia holds parliamentary elections on May 11 that are touted as crucial in determining the future of a country still deeply divided between European and nationalist, pro-Russian ambitions. On the eve of that vote, Gordana Knezevic, director of RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service, speaks with Janja Bec-Neumann, a rare voice in Serbia calling for recognition that a "genocide" was perpetrated against Muslims in the 1992-95 Bosnian war. Bec-Neumann, who was nominated for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize, teaches a university course about the massacres and is the author of a book, "Darkness at Noon: War Crimes, Genocide, and Memory."http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/b9bbe715-1df9-4fff-bf55-eb43357fc03d.htmlFri, 09 May 2008 11:18:08 GMTMissile carriers rumbled across Moscow's Red Square and war planes roared overhead as Russia celebrated the 63rd anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/08c81a64-c6c1-484d-9b58-83661bc7dbf8.htmlFri, 09 May 2008 09:55:32 GMTNorman Stone, former regius professor at Oxford University and now modern history professor at Turkey's Bilkent University, has a reputation for upsetting conventional thinking with his short, sharp assessments. In this interview with RFE/RL correspondent Breffni O'Rourke, coinciding with the 63rd anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe, Stone ponders the impact of that war and other wars of the 20th century on the Soviet Union, Turkey, and the Balkans.  http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/706ec6eb-e653-4772-99db-b56c3f91a8af.htmlFri, 09 May 2008 08:14:48 GMTWASHINGTON -- The U.S. government says Russia has expelled two U.S. military attaches. The order follows the expulsion of two Russians from Washington in the past six months.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/b94116f8-5e6f-4a16-bed8-691fc5775985.htmlFri, 09 May 2008 07:28:47 GMTAfter a two month lull in the violence that has plagued Pakistan's border regions, Islamist militants appear to have resumed the violence when a recent suicide-bomb attack in the northwestern city of Bannu killed five.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/7e31d8ac-98a1-4298-90dd-1a34a5249f92.htmlThu, 08 May 2008 16:25:40 GMTThe only gynecological clinic operating free-of-charge in Russia's republic of Daghestan has been ordered to close.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/2055d46c-7ed2-45b6-9941-16dd3f25308f.htmlThu, 08 May 2008 16:04:50 GMTThe U.S. State Department says Russia has ordered the expulsion of two U.S. military attaches from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/9c55b704-b268-488d-8d18-99f7514ddcaf.htmlThu, 08 May 2008 15:56:29 GMTThe official line on the transfer of power in Russia is continuity. Incoming Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his successor in the presidency, Dmitry Medvedev, have stressed that they are like-minded leaders who are ready to work together under the existing structures to continue the policies of the last eight years.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/ccf7d073-05fa-45fd-af62-3ebb201fc682.htmlThu, 08 May 2008 15:32:15 GMTMOSCOW --  Russia's State Duma has confirmed Vladimir Putin as prime minister by an overwhelming vote of 392 to 56, just one day after Dmitry Medvedev succeeded him as the country's president.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/c4a9d107-ef5b-49cf-9ae4-4e7e5d254918.htmlThu, 08 May 2008 12:26:34 GMTMOSCOW -- Dmitry Medvedev looked solemn as he was sworn in as Russian president under the watchful eye of his powerful mentor, Vladimir Putin.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/33cc821a-d829-4b02-8987-e0ef1fdeeae5.htmlWed, 07 May 2008 14:13:55 GMTBAGHDAD -- U.S. troops and Shi'ite militants are clashing daily in Baghdad's volatile Al-Sadr City as fighters tied to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr try to stop, or at least delay, construction of a 5-kilometer barrier to keep them from firing rockets on the International Zone, the seat of the Iraqi government.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/8b6ca814-629d-4cc2-bdcd-65a5c86b6db6.htmlWed, 07 May 2008 13:51:44 GMTTwo Iranian men have been detained in Afghanistan in separate incidents on suspicion of spying near NATO and Afghan military installations.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/ddc8645b-8071-4e2d-a1b2-ee926744d6e0.htmlWed, 07 May 2008 13:31:43 GMTA Sunni Arab tribal leader in restive Diyala Governorate announced this week that tribal fighters obtained Al-Qaeda records documenting the names of 6,000 suicide bombers who have carried out attacks in Iraq since the fall of the Hussein regime.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/0edf7107-bf7e-45e8-b8ef-a21a16c75f9f.htmlWed, 07 May 2008 13:09:35 GMTAt a grand ceremony broadcast live across the nation, Russia's president of the last eight years, Vladimir Putin, formally stepped down and his successor, Dmitry Medvedev, was sworn in.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/04b3e981-61aa-4abe-b0e9-f5bc339c0457.htmlWed, 07 May 2008 12:32:09 GMTMOSCOW/PRAGUE -- Dmitry Medvedev has been sworn in as Russia's third president since the collapse of the Soviet Union 17 years ago in an elaborate ceremony at the Kremlin that was broadcast live across the country and around the world.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/fb134ac2-a197-4de8-b092-a84118309402.htmlTue, 06 May 2008 13:37:29 GMTBRUSSELS -- Worried about its dependency on Russian natural gas, EU officials have met in Brussels with energy officials from Turkey and six Mideast countries in an effort to fill Nabucco, a planned gas pipeline running from Turkey to Austria and beyond.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/cbf88c99-56c5-4010-a104-f17f8b4a1bf2.htmlTue, 06 May 2008 12:43:22 GMTBRUSSELS -- Georgia is warning Western governments that there is a real risk of war with Russia unless Moscow is persuaded to reverse recent decisions to strengthen ties with the separatist Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/253f95b0-9511-4b72-a759-db69d19c525c.htmlTue, 06 May 2008 11:44:35 GMTWASHINGTON -- Debate has been postponed indefinitely on a nonbinding resolution in the U.S. Congress that accuses Russia of being responsible for "provocative and dangerous statements and actions" against Georgia.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/f091ca7c-1a96-43c7-893e-3fd6808604ef.htmlTue, 06 May 2008 07:21:10 GMTNATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer says missile-defense shields are a key element for trans-Atlantic security.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/67b2f4d2-e589-4d69-a869-5d2d4efbf3de.htmlMon, 05 May 2008 13:26:55 GMTFor the first time in 17 years, Russia will celebrate the victory over Nazi Germany with a display of the country's big military hardware.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/c1f70515-9678-4fd6-ae81-1410ec1d94b0.htmlMon, 05 May 2008 13:21:42 GMTIraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has ordered the formation of a committee to compile evidence of what has been described as Iranian "interference" in Iraq.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/ef68b972-b708-45b2-9397-3b8186581d13.htmlMon, 05 May 2008 11:50:31 GMTIran looks set to reject a new offer by the international community to give up some nuclear activities in exchange for unspecified incentives.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/87413cd9-b9b7-4175-a360-0cb5621ec497.htmlMon, 05 May 2008 11:24:07 GMTAuthorities in Kabul have arrested two Afghan government workers for alleged involvement in last week's failed plot to kill President Hamid Karzai.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/87ed6cb0-088d-4d69-88b9-66c9e6b624da.htmlMon, 05 May 2008 10:52:22 GMTThe United States and the European Union have urged restraint following the latest incident between Georgia and its Moscow-backed separatist region of Abkhazia.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/616e29f7-1c47-4754-86be-1f6eae85c7ab.htmlMon, 05 May 2008 10:52:09 GMTPrime Minister Nuri al-Maliki dispatched a delegation of leading Shi'ite figures to Iran last week in order to present Tehran with mounting evidence of Iran's support for rogue militias in Iraq. But Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose militia continues to battle Iraqi and U.S. forces in Baghdad and other areas and who has been in Iran for months, refused to meet with the delegation.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/27fc11ff-9706-438d-9f39-5efa0164fbdf.htmlSun, 04 May 2008 15:01:50 GMTU.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she believes an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement is still possible this year.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/50540445-b958-4b18-ac3c-230388636f27.htmlSun, 04 May 2008 14:37:16 GMTThe Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced emergency funding to help poor countries struggling with increasing food prices. At its annual meeting in Madrid, the bank has also warned that soaring food prices could keep rising and stifle economic growth in the region.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/07d54eff-5cea-410a-af53-7142d1841f91.htmlSun, 04 May 2008 11:51:43 GMTThe Chinese government has issued a nationwide alert in a bid to control a virus that has caused the deaths of 22 children.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/a42012f0-58d3-4a82-b73c-e07213a70988.htmlSat, 03 May 2008 13:53:15 GMTU.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said the United States could consider taking over NATO's command in southern Afghanistan, where some NATO allies have been reluctant to provide combat forces.http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/5/daafe784-e96b-47ed-893d-436fcea1848e.htmlSat, 03 May 2008 13:18:31 GMT