 RFE/RL Headlines 29.06.2009 A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| News  Ahmadinejad Win Confirmed Iran's Guardians Council has confirmed election results giving incumbent conservative President Mahmud Ahmadinejad a landslide win. Ahead of the announcement, witnesses reported an increased police presence in some Tehran squares, where protesters have previously gathered. More  Moldovan President Accuses Opposition Of Working With 'Criminals' Acting President Vladimir Voronin says the survival of the Moldovan state is at stake in the upcoming parliamentary elections, RFE/RL's Moldovan Service reports. More  Southern Afghan Police Killed In Clash With Security Guards The provincial police chief and at least four other police officers in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar Province have been killed in a clash with private Afghan security guards. More 'Where Did He Learn To Tell Such Big Lies?' Voicemails sent to Radio Farda on June 29. More  Basij 'Impostors' Blamed For Havoc As officials prepare to slam the door shut on any effort to revisit the June 12 election, they appear to be going on the offensive over allegations of thuggery and killing on the part of security forces. More  Rafsanjani Breaks His Silence Rafsanjani suggested that "proper elections" would turn rivalry into "unanimity, cooperation, and the transformation of competition to friendship after the election." More More The two big news stories converged. More Voicemails left with Radio Farda on June 26. Many listeners decline to leave their names: More  Azerbaijan's Proposed NGO Media Curbs Draw Fire Rights groups in Azerbaijan are warning that proposed restrictions on civil society will further curb democratic freedoms in the former Soviet republic. More  Obama’s Mission To Moscow Last week, on June 24, the Hudson Institute held a panel discussion on the challenges President Obama will face when he visits Moscow on July 6. More Artists all over the world are youtubing their support for the Iranian people. Watch Joan Baez singing part of the legendary protest anthem "We Shall Overcome" in Farsi here: More  Will Moscow Be Constrained To Cede The North Caucasus To Ramzan Kadyrov? In light of Ramzan Kadyrov's megalomaniac tendencies, his clear ambition to assume control of the "power" agencies in Ingushetia, and possibly also other North Caucasus republics, in effect relegating republic heads to mere economic managers while creaming off for his own purposes a chunk of the subsidies those republics receive from the federal center, is alarming. Any additional powers that Moscow formally bestows on him cannot be simply annulled if/when the crisis that served as the rationale for granting them in the first place is resolved. More Colonel Valmer Butba, who during the 1992-93 war and after headed a counterterrorism unit that sought to thwart attacks in Abkhazia's southernmost Gali district by Georgian guerrilla formations, was detained on June 26 in Gali by a group of armed men commanded by a senior Abkhaz Interior Ministry official after a weapon was discovered in his car. More  North Caucasus Resistance Extends War Into Cyberspace For years, the ideologues of the Chechen resistance have used the Internet to communicate their ideas and their military successes in the ongoing fight against Russia to a broader audience both within Russia and abroad. Over the past 10 days, however, the resistance has gone one step further, hacking and temporarily disabling official sites in Daghestan and Chechnya and posting on them statements of responsibility for attacks on senior officials in Daghestan and Ingushetia. More  Hard-Scrabble Life In A Kazakh Village Villagers in Koshkarata, Kazakhstan, live without telephones, running water, or a local hospital. Many would like to see more assistance from local authorities, but have little hope that help will come. More  Frictions Fuel Fears Of New Conflict As Western countries strive to mend ties with Moscow badly frayed during Russia's brief war with Georgia, there are growing fears over a possible new conflict. A week ahead of a summit meeting between the U.S. and Russian presidents, the Kremlin is refusing to allow international monitors into the conflict area and holding major military exercises north of the Georgian border. More  Despite 'Uptick' In Violence, Stage Set For U.S. Pullback Iraqi police are on the streets in greater numbers and Iraqi soldiers are at the ready as the government prepares to assume full responsibility for security in the country's urban areas starting July 1. As U.S. troops withdraw, however, Baghdad especially has seen a surge in violent attacks. More  Ex-President Aushev 'Ready' To Lead Ingushetia As tensions rose in Ingushetia, ex-President Ruslan Aushev said he was ready to assume temporary leadership while current president recovered from injuries suffered from an assassination attempt. He was just the region's latest prominent figure to offer his help, as the Kremlin remained silent. More  Police Crime Wave Sparks Talk Of Reform In Russia Police in Russia have never enjoyed much respect. But their reputation has sunk to a new low after a Moscow district chief went on a shooting rampage in a supermarket. The question many Russians are asking is: Can anything be done about the culture of impunity among Russia's police? More  Israeli President's Azerbaijan Trip Breaks New Ground As part of a strategy by Israel to improve relations with moderate, secular countries of the Islamic world, President Shimon Peres is visiting Azerbaijan on June 28. More  Moscow Plays It Smart In Moldova, As Others Dither Moscow has promised Moldova $500 million in the run-up to repeat parliamentary elections after acting President Vladimir Voronin assured the Kremlin there's no place for "color revolutions" and foreign meddling. But anyone who thinks Voronin's latest turn to the east portends a permanent shift should take a close look at recent history. More  What The King Of Pop Bequeathed To The World What did the King of Pop bequeath to the world? Your answer will probably depend on your view of American pop music. Like Elvis Presley, Jackson became a superstar when he was too young to handle it, and by the time of his early death, he had become a freak. More |
