Daisy Sindelar is the vice president and editor in chief of RFE/RL.
The killing of terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden on May 2 was the result of years of intelligence work that some U.S. officials say began with controversial interrogation methods in secret CIA interrogation centers and at the U.S. miliatary base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The claim has resurrected old arguments among some Americans, including former Vice President Dick Cheney, that the use of extraordinary rendition and enhanced interrogation techniques can bring valuable results and should be restored. But others say bin Laden's capture does nothing to justify the use of torture or illegal interrogations.
Twenty five years after a powerful explosion tore through the Chornobyl nuclear plant, controversy remains over the health effects of the radiation released in the disaster. A UN study estimates the death toll to be in the dozens. But those who either lived in the disaster zone or traveled there to take part in the cleanup operation say the accident continues to claim and cripple thousands of lives.
A Georgian ship languished for 11 months in the Libyan port of Misurata, as its stranded sailors slowly starved. But then the fighting began -- giving them a now-or-never chance to break free.
Inspired by last month's Egyptian uprising, young activists in Azerbaijan are calling for antigovernment demonstrations on March 11 -- and using Facebook to spread the word.
Make no mistake, commemorations of the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day on March 8 will be truly international in nature, with celebrations planned in more than 100 countries worldwide. But despite the holiday's high-profile anniversary, Women's Day is virtually unheard of in the West.
Meet Alyaksandr Lukashenka's No. 1 sidekick -- his 6-year-old son, Kolya. Is this fatherly love, or a political ploy?
Kathryn Bolkovac was a policewoman in Nebraska who decided to travel to postwar Bosnia-Herzegovina to serve with the UN police forces there. Less than two years later, she was fired after repeatedly presenting evidence that American and UN workers in Bosnia were involved in sex crimes involving underage girls trafficked illegally.
As the world watches events unfold in Egypt, perhaps nowhere is attention more keen than in the ex-Soviet autocracies of Central Asia and Azerbaijan. These Muslim-majority nations have in some ways taken their cue from the despotic regimes in the Middle East. Now, with public protests bringing change to some of the most entrenched regimes in the Arab world, the question naturally arises -- could the same thing happen to Tashkent or Baku?
As part of massive reductions in its World Service radio programming, the BBC is set to close its language operations in Serbia, Macedonia, and Albania. The reductions come at a time of mounting financial pressure on international broadcasting outlets, although one, Al-Jazeera, is expanding its presence in the Balkans even as the BBC cuts back.
Former Russian agent Anna Chapman is hosting a new television show unlocking the "world's most complicated mysteries." But one mystery has already been solved -- what slinky former spies do once the jig is up.
The prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, has responded to EU critics who say the country's new media law is too repressive and a betrayal of democratic values.
Hungary faces a major test as it assumes the EU's rotating presidency. Many are worried that a repressive new media law there is a rejection of two decades of democratic gains.
As immigration debate turned conservative, a broader conversation emerged in 2010 about multiculturalism and what it means to be "native."
As Belarus heads to the polls, Moscow, Brussels, and Washington appear to have rallied around Alyaksandr Lukashenka as the least bad option.
Corruption is on the rise worldwide, as highlighted in Transparency International's latest Global Corruption Barometer. The surprise exception? Georgia, where only 3 percent of residents say they've paid a bribe in the past year.
Kyrgyz officials have blamed Islamic militants for an explosion in the capital, Bishkek, as well as clashes this week in the southern city of Osh.
Five months after ethnic clashes left 400 people dead in southern Kyrgyzstan, many Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in Osh say they're not ready to forgive or forget.
It has been more than a month since Kyrgyzstan held historic elections as Central Asia's first parliamentary democracy. Even now, it is unclear if the experiment will succeed -- leaving many to wonder if a long winter of indecision will lead to fresh unrest and another political overhaul in 2011.
As the new Kyrgyz parliament met for its first session since historic elections last month, one of its youngest members is 25-year-old Joomart Saparbaev. A firm supporter of the nascent parliamentary democracy, he offers a glimpse into what the next generation may bring.
The head of Kyrgyzstan's Ata-Meken party, Omurbek Tekebaev, says his party has not joined official talks on forming a ruling coalition in Kyrgyzstan's new parliament.
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