RFE/RL staff

Latest articles from RFE/RL

• Merkel, Medvedev Launch Nord Stream Pipeline Beneath Baltic Sea

  Published 09 November 2011 | viewed 6,080 times

  The leaders of Germany and Russia have inaugurated the Nord Stream pipeline, linking Western Europe directly with Siberia's natural gas reserves. German Chancellor Angela Merkel…

• Russia-Ukraine Honeymoon Over As Gas Dispute Deepens

  Published 07 September 2011 | viewed 4,433 times

  It all started with great fanfare last year in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, where Ukraine's newly elected President Viktor Yanukovych and his cheerful-looking Russian…

• Russia Set to Lose Billions in Libya

  Published 05 September 2011 | viewed 19,231 times

  Russia's belated recognition of Libya’s provisional leadership on September 1 carried a hint of desperation. For months, Moscow had refused to recognize the National Transitional…

• Kazakhstan’s Land of Death and the Soviet Union’s Nuclear Tests

  Published 31 August 2011 | viewed 4,293 times

  It has been 20 years since the world's most infamous nuclear test site was shuttered, but fallout from the Soviet Union's nuclear program is evident…

• Could Poland Become Europe's Energy Powerhouse?

  Published 20 June 2011 | viewed 6,501 times

  The idea seems patently absurd given that the country is dependent on outdated coal power and Russian gas imports to meet its domestic energy needs.…

• Central Asian Governments Preparing for their Own "Arab Spring"

  Published 29 April 2011 | viewed 11,197 times

  Like the Middle East and North Africa, Central Asia also suffers from poverty, corruption, heavy-handed governments, widespread unemployment, and scant opportunities for the young. All…

• On the 25th Anniversary of the Chernobyl Disaster Old Nuclear Fears are Awakened

  Published 25 April 2011 | viewed 5,496 times

  When reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded 25 years ago, it seemed nuclear power might die with it. Around the world,…

• Extent of Nuclear Disaster Still Unknown as Rescue Teams Struggle to Regain Control

  Published 04 April 2011 | viewed 11,208 times

  After three weeks of efforts to regain control of Japan's damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, several bits of bad news this…

• Obama Calls for Energy Independence and Lower Oil Imports

  Published 01 April 2011 | viewed 4,987 times

  U.S. President Barack Obama has set out an ambitious goal of cutting U.S. reliance on foreign oil by one-third by the year 2025. In a speech…

• State Led Corruption in Russia

  Published 29 March 2011 | viewed 5,541 times

  The highly publicized cases of Sergei Magnitsky -- a 37-year-old lawyer who died in pretrial detention in November 2009 after exposing a multimillion-dollar fraud against…

• Following Fukushima Safety of Armenian Nuclear Plant Questioned

  Published 21 March 2011 | viewed 4,750 times

  Just a half-hour drive from the Armenian capital, Yerevan, a Soviet-era nuclear power plant sits precariously on an earthquake fault line. Environmentalists have long said…

• EU to Stress Test Nuclear Power Plants Following Fukushima Disaster

  Published 18 March 2011 | viewed 7,530 times

  BRUSSELS -- EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger has announced that EU-wide stress tests on nuclear power plants will be conducted in the wake of the…

• Five Potential Nuclear Disasters Just Waiting to Happen

  Published 17 March 2011 | viewed 12,003 times

  The troubles surrounding Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant in the wake of the recent earthquake and tsunami there have set off a debate on the…

• The Effects of Rising Global Food Prices

  Published 01 March 2011 | viewed 14,736 times

  Food prices are shooting up to levels last seen back in 2008, when foodstuff inflation hit populations around the world. If present trends continue, though,…

• EU Gives Green Light to Turkmenistan Gas Agreement

  Published 28 January 2011 | viewed 6,573 times

  The European Parliament has given its initial green light to a partnership agreement with gas-rich Turkmenistan, aimed at bringing the Central Asian country closer to…

• The Yuan and The Dollar: Obama and Chinese President to Discuss Currency Concerns

  Published 20 January 2011 | viewed 6,192 times

  "More longer-term, China would like to see the renminbi rival the U.S. dollar's status as a global reserve currency. But this is going to take…

• EU Officials in Visit to Azerbaijan to Secure Natural Gas Supplies

  Published 13 January 2011 | viewed 5,104 times

  Top European Union officials, including European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger, are due to open a visit to Azerbaijan today…

• Cost Cutting Led to the Gulf Oil Disaster

  Published 10 January 2011 | viewed 5,076 times

  A U.S. presidential panel has concluded that energy firm BP and its partners made a series of "systemic" cost-cutting decisions that led to the oil…

• Russia in Joint Venture With Mongolia to Develop Uranium Resource

  Published 07 January 2011 | viewed 7,235 times

  Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a law on forming a joint venture with Mongolia to develop a large uranium deposit. Medvedev's signature clears the…

• Iranian Fuel Blockade Hurting Afghan Civilians

  Published 05 January 2011 | viewed 5,951 times

  Afghans are grappling with rising fuel prices and dwindling supplies in the depth of winter, while convoys of relief aid stand idle just across the…