 RFE/RL Headlines July 21, 2009 4:25:54 PM A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| News  Tatar Writer, Angering President, Lands In Court Tatar writer and journalist Irek Murtazin has gone on trial in Kazan on charges brought by Tatarstan President Mintimer Shaimiev, which include disseminating false information about the head of state. A former spokesman for Shaimiev, Murtazin has several times fallen afoul of the authorities for his writings. Before the proceedings got under way, he told RFE/RL that he doubted he could receive an unbiased trial. More  Biden: 'Reset' Not At Ukraine's Expense U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has delivered a positive message to a beleaguered Ukraine. Despite Kyiv's paralyzing domestic political feuds and a deep recession, Biden said Washington's efforts to repair strained ties with Russia will not hurt U.S. support for Ukraine's push to integrate with the West. More  Moldovan Opposition Objects To Poll On Parliamentary Vote Moldova's main opposition parties have lashed out at a Chisinau NGO for publishing an opinion poll showing them virtually tied with the ruling Communists just days ahead of the July 29 parliamentary elections, RFE/RL's Moldovan Service reports. More  U.S. Military Says Iraqis Ready To Take Over Detention Facility A U.S. military official in Baghdad says Iraqi prison personnel are preparing to take over the Camp Cropper detention facility from U.S. forces, RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq (RFI) reports. More  Leading Challenger Emerges In Iraqi Kurdistan Vote Four candidates are challenging incumbent Masud Barzani in the autonomous Kurdish region's presidential election on July 25, RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq (RFI) reports. More  Europe Sending Romanian-Led Mission To Moldova Vote The European Parliament has said the seven-member delegation that will monitor Moldova's parliamentary elections on July 29 will be led by a Romanian, RFE/RL's Moldovan Service reports. More  Medvedev Visits Wounded Ingushetian President Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has visited Ingushetian President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov at the Moscow hospital where he is recovering from multiple injuries he received in a car bomb attack last month, RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service reports. More The Internal Affairs office in Tajikistan's eastern Badakhshan Province says police and border guards arrested two Tajik citizens for the illegal possession of explosives, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports. More  'Turn On Your Appliances Tonight' Members of Iran’s green movement are calling on Iranians to plug in as many electrical devices as possible including their irons and hairdryers tonight at 9.00 p.m. Tehran time in order to overload the power grid and create a nationwide blackout. More  Rafsanjani Reacts To Khamenei’s Warning Iran’s former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has posted on his website an excerpt from his memoirs titled: "The word 'fear' doesn’t have any meaning for us. There is a test for every generation.” More  18-Year-Old Victim Of Postelection Crackdown Buried Iranian news websites are reporting that another victim of Iran’s postelection crackdown, 18-year-old Mohammad Kamrani -- who was arrested at a July 9 demonstration in Tehran -- was buried over the weekend at Behesht Zahra cemetery. More A video has been posted to youtube that appears to capture Iranian security forces firing automatic weapons at protesters. RFE/RL can't be certain of either its provenance or the date and location of the incident. More  Tajik Wind Turbines Built In Non-Windy Areas Ten wind turbines installed recently in the Baljuvon, Farkhor, and Shuroobod districts of southern Tajikistan are suffering from a lack of wind. More  Biden, Yushchenko Discuss Women, Churches Politics and energy apparently weren't the only topics of conversation between Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who paid an official visit to Kyiv today. More Radu Mazare, the mayor of Constanta, Romania’s largest Black Sea port and one of the biggest cities in the country, has caused a storm after he goose-stepped on a catwalk decked out in a Nazi army general’s uniform. More Will tit-for-tat sex tapes be the level of discourse in the upcoming Moldovan parliamentary elections? More  Georgian President Offers Opposition Same Old Half Measures In an extended address to parliament on July 20, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili outlined a package of proposals intended to assuage the opposition's repeated demands for his resignation. Some of those proposals duplicate those he put forward two months ago at a meeting with opposition leaders on May 11; a couple are new. More  Foreign Minister Denies Armenia Has Endorsed Madrid Principles The release on July 10 during the G8 summit in Aquila of a statement by the French, Russian, and U.S. presidents calling on Armenia and Azerbaijan to endorse the most recent draft of the so-called Madrid Principles for resolving the Karabakh conflict triggered anger and outrage in both Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. More  KBR Academics Reject FSB Claims Unnamed faculty members at institutes of higher education in the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic (KBR) have questioned the veracity of claims that the North Caucasus resistance is openly seeking to recruit new members among students. More  Neil Armstrong, Moon's Reclusive Pioneer, Says Cold War Paved Path To Moon In a rare public appearance, Neil Armstrong, the commander of the Apollo 11 spacecraft and the first human to walk on the moon, credited Cold War tensions as enabling the rapid development of technologies that paved the way for space exploration. More  Why Do Russia's Streets Carry The Names Of Killers? No one is surprised that the map of today’s Berlin does not show an Adolf-Hitler-Platz or a Hermann-Goering-Strasse. So why do the cities and streets of Russia continue to carry the names of executioners who are covered in blood; who plundered its riches; who profaned its spiritual and cultural heritage; who executed and deported its peasants, priests, and writers... More |
