Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, president of FIDE

Unbeatable Game

The World Chess Federation is choosing a new president, with a grandmaster in the running. But it's the alien-friendly incumbent who's almost certain to win. More

Tensions Over Moscow Mosque

Moscow has just four mosques for its 2 million Muslims. But a plan to build a new mosque in the Russian capital is sparking fierce resistance. More

Czech Power Games Video

Twenty years after the end of communism, some say the Czech Republic and its neighbors are in danger of falling under Moscow's influence again. More

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Highlights

Power Struggle

Protests Pile Pressure On Moscow's Embattled Mayor

Reporter's Notebook

With Security, Business Booms In Mazar-e Sharif

Collision Course

Pakistan's Supreme Court, Government Face Off

Photos Of The Week

Iran Remembers War, And Ahmadinejad At The UN Photogallery

Multimedia

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Video

A Female Candidate Fights Tough Odds In Afghan Election Video

Gul Shirin Beg Turkmen is running for a seat in the Afghan parliament. A member of Afghanistan's Turkmen minority, she is waging a charm offensive in Kabul's poorest neighborhoods.

Video

A Female Candidate Fights Tough Odds In Afghan Election Video

Gul Shirin Beg Turkmen is running for a seat in the Afghan parliament. A member of Afghanistan's Turkmen minority, she is waging a charm offensive in Kabul's poorest neighborhoods.

Video

Riding With 'Miss Emma' Video

In Soviet-era Armenia, driving a trolleybus was a popular job for women who wanted to prove they could succeed in a traditionally male field. Today, only one woman drives a trolleybus in the capital, Yerevan, and she wouldn’t change her career for anything.

Video

'Borat' Returns Video

A Kazakh director is shooting an unauthorized sequel to the Hollywood film "Borat," which left some Kazakhs feeling insulted by its depiction of a naïve easterner bumbling through America. So director Erkin Rakishev has set out to show the “real” Kazakhstan.

Audio Slide Show

The Roots Of The Taliban Audio Slide Show

In this audio slide show, David Edwards, an anthropology professor who has studied the politics and culture of Afghanistan for 30 years, describes the roots of the Taliban in refugee camps and madrasahs, and explains why he has little hope that its leaders will compromise for peace.

Photogallery

Preparing For Eid Al-Fitr In Kabul Photogallery

On September 9, Sayed Jan Sabawoon of RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan visited a Kabul market ahead of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, during which Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking, and sexual relations from sunrise to sunset.

Photogallery

Photos Of The Week -- September 4-10 Photogallery

Eid, 9/11, And Belarusian Mourning

Video

Waiting For The Light Of Allah Video

At a mosque in Baku, Shi'ite Muslims -- Azerbaijan's religious majority -- stay awake through the night, praying and reciting the names of Shi'ite imams while standing with the open Koran on their heads.

Video

Afghan Girls Fall Ill In Suspected Gas Attack Video

Forty-eight Afghan girls fell ill on August 28 in what was thought to be the latest in a string of attacks on girls' schools by hard-liners.

Video

'Thank You, Ramzan' Video

Chechnya's Moscow-backed president has built up a personality cult in his North Caucasus republic, where his picture appears on almost every city street. But is there genuine popular support behind him?

Video

An Udder Success Video

A unique Polish microcredit program is allowing some families in Tajikistan to increase their incomes and upgrade their standards of living through the gift of a cow.
More Multimedia

Blogs

Persian Letters

Who Is A 'Decent Woman' On Iranian TV?

Russia -- An opposition supporter during a protest rally against Moscow Mayor in central Moscow, 12Sep2010

The Power Vertical

A Gathering And Unpredictable Storm

Caucasus Report

Armenian Coalition Parties Downplay Rumors Of Discord

Chaikhana

Dirtying Kyrgyzstan's New Political Field

Watchdog

Families Of Jailed Azeri Bloggers Appeal To Obama

Transmission

Ahmadinejad In NYC: Hardly Welcome But Hardly Noticed

Tangled Web

New Google Censorship Monitoring Tool

More Blogs

Commentary

France is not the first major EU state to deport Roma back to their home countries. But on this occasion, it has led to angry clashes within the EU's main governing structures not seen in decades.

Current Crisis Is Opportunity To Improve Roma Status

Tim Gallagher says good can only come from the Roma being thrust into the European spotlight -- if the EU adopts a far more serious and long-term approach to improving their circumstances. More

More Commentary

We're Redesigning

Early next year, rferl.org will get a new look and feel. We want to hear from you, our audience, about how we can make a better website. What new rubrics or features could we add? What do we do well and what can we improve on? Please leave your comments on this forum or e-mail us here. We look forward to hearing from you.

From Our Bureaus

Armenian officials hope to boost domestic wheat production.

Russia Provides Food Aid To Armenia

An Armenian government official says Armenia has begun receiving thousands of tons of grain and cooking oil from Russia. More
Rebiya Kadeer, president of the World Uyghur Congress

Kyrgyz Security Service Disrupts Human Rights Film Festival

The Kyrgyz National Security Service (UKK) has interrupted the screening of an Australian documentary about a prominent Uyghur rights activist at the fourth annual One World Film Festival in Bishkek. More
Kazan

Tatarstan Parliament Introduces New Islam Holiday

Tatarstan has introduced a new holiday to commemorate the adoption of Islam in what is now the Russian Federation. More

Belarus Activist Fined Over Handouts

Local businesswoman Tatsyana Kuchynskaya was detained by police in Salihorsk's central market on August 31 while distributing booklets with the text of a presidential decree on property rents, as well as copies of the newspaper "The Market and Us," which features the logo of the Tell the Truth campaign. More
The Astrouski family

Complaint Withdrawn In Belarus Language Case

Police in the western Belarusian city of Hrodna have withdrawn their complaint about a family that protested in an effort to secure Belarusian-language teachers for their children. More
More News

Iran

Oman -- Sarah Shourd embraces her mother Nora upon her arrival in Muscat, 14Sep2010

Release Of Jailed U.S. Hiker Called 'Bittersweet'

More

More Iran

Afghanistan and Pakistan

Afghanistan -- Afghan soldiers are deployed outside the Arghandab base in Kandahar province, 03Aug2010

Kabul's Controversial Plan To Train Militia Fighters

More

More Afghanistan

Caucasus

U.S. -- US President Barack Obama (R) holds a bilateral meeting with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, 24Sep2010

Obama Presses Aliyev On Democracy

More

More Caucasus

Russia

Zakayev: ‘No Irresolvable Issues’ Between Russia, Chechnya

More

More Russia

Central Asia

Criticism For Harsh Sentencing Of Ethnic Uzbek Activist

More

More Central Asia

East and Southeast Europe

Belarus Sets December Date For Presidential Vote

More

More Eastern Europe

RFE In The News

Radio Azadi Kabul Bureau Chief Mohammad Amin Mudaqiq hands out radios at a refugee camp near Kabul, Afghanistan. (16 Sep 2010)

RFE, Afghan Air Force Deliver Thousands Of Radios To Remote Afghan Villages, Refugee Camps

At a refugee camp outside Kabul, Radio Azadi staff began handing out the first of 20,000 solar-powered, hand-cranked radios to Afghans who live in remote places or lack the means to access news and information. More
Along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border (10 May 2010)

RFE's Pakistan Broadcasts Boosted To Nine Hours A Day

Amid the growing number of extremist-controlled radio stations in the region, RFE's programs in the Pashtun regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan have expanded from six to nine hours a day. More

What's Happening This Week


September 26-28: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on official visit to China.
See full listing

Cultural Capital

Pupils in front of a schoolhouse in the Istrian village of Susnjevica in 1958, when many are said to have entered school with no Croatian language skills.

Linguist Gives Dying Language In Croatia A Fighting Chance Audio

The Vlashki language is even rarer than the bloodlines of its speakers, and is being pushed toward extinction by Croatian. But one linguist is determined to preserve it. More

More Cultural Capital

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