 RFE/RL Headlines 7/23/2009 5:46:07 PM A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| News  German, Afghan Offensive In North Targets IMU While Afghan and international troops claim to be making steady progress in Afghanistan's insurgency-plagued eastern and southern regions, a new joint German and Afghan offensive aims to drive insurgents from the relatively stable north. More  U.S. Vice President Backs 'United' Georgia The visiting U.S. vice president said Washington fully supports a "united" Georgia during a visit to Tbilisi but added that its leaders must do "much more" to strengthen democracy. More  Withdrawals, Clashes Mar Kyrgyz Vote Protesters and police clashed and candidates withdrew from the race as Kyrgyzstan held its snap presidential election. As voting ended, one exit poll showed incumbent Kurmanbek Bakiev with an overwhelming 67 percent of the vote. More  Biden Pledges U.S. Support For Georgia U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has reiterated Washington's support for Georgia a year after its military was crushed during a five-day war with Russia. More Tajik Factory Chief Accused Of Spying For Uzbekistan The chief of Tajikistan's Vostokredmet uranium-reprocessing plant has been arrested and accused of spying for Uzbekistan, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports. More  Turkmen Activist Dies In Exile Turkmen civic activist Aygyl Tajiyeva died on July 22 in Sweden after suffering a stroke, RFE/RL's Turkmen Service reports. More  Election Monitors Arrive In Iraq's Kurdish Region Hundreds of international observers have arrived in the Kurdish autonomous region ahead of the July 25 parliamentary and presidential elections, RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq (RFI) reports. More  Armenia's Press Club Calls For Editor's Release Armenia's National Press Club has issued a statement demanding the release of a jailed opposition newspaper editor, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. More  Tajik Official Says Security Stabilizing In East Tajik Interior Minister Abdurahim Qahhorov said the situation has stabilized in the country's eastern Tavil-Dara district thanks to the government's military operations there, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports. More  Ukrainian Police Stop Second Transfer Of Russian Missiles Crimean police in the city of Sevastopol stopped two Russian Black Sea Navy vehicles that were carrying missiles without the necessary permit, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports. More Father Of Young Man Killed In Postelection Crackdown Reportedly Detained Norooznews.ir reports that several plainclothes agents went to the Tehran home of the late Masud Hashemzadeh, removed all signs of mourning -- including black cloth and condolences messages from neighbors -- and detained Hashemzadeh's father. More  Russia Responds To UN Rights Experts Over Estemirova Murder In a statement posted on its website on July 22, the Russian Foreign Ministry acknowledged receiving an offer from UN human rights experts to assist the Russian authorities in carrying out what they called an independent investigation into the killing of rights activist Natalya Estemirova last week. More  Azerbaijan Blogger Complaint Rejected By Judge A complaint filed by jailed Azerbaijani bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizada about inhuman treatment by Sabayil district police was rejected by a district court judge on July 23 in a closed-court hearing. More  Wait, I Thought He Was A Dentist… Turkmen state media report that Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has opened a new cancer hospital in Ashgabat by performing the first operation himself. More  Did Karzai Really Pull Out Of Afghan Presidential Debate? Media reports suggest that the incumbent Afghan President Hamid Karzai pulled out of the first televised debate among the top three contenders in the August 20 election. More U.S. President Barack Obama has inspired an African immigrant to proclaim himself the "Obama of Volgograd" and run for mayor in the southern Russian region. More  Reset-Phobia In Tbilisi The message the Georgians wanted to send to Vice President Joe Biden was clear almost from the minute Air Force Two landed in Tbilisi. And it was not subtle. More  I Would Like To Thank Ahmadinejad For Uniting Us All! Blogger Zeitun (Olive) says many Iranians have become united as the result of their opposition to Mahmud Ahmadinejad. More  Musavi Says Green Movement Charter In The Works Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Musavi has said he is working on the charter of a new political front that would lay the groundwork for a large-scale social movement. The charter, which Musavi has said will be issued in the coming days, is seen as a potential means of building on the unity exhibited by those protesting the results of Iran's June 12 presidential election. More  Fifty Years Ago, American Exhibition Stunned Soviets In a leafy park in what was suburban Moscow in 1959, American engineers constructed a series of futuristic-looking pavilions brimming with art and fashion displays along with the latest in U.S. consumer goods. The venue of the Nixon-Khrushchev kitchen debate, it marked an iconic episode of detente at the height of the Cold War, something its organizers today say was an important precedent for U.S. President Barack Obama's efforts to improve relations with Moscow. More  Reconciliation As 'Endgame' In Afghanistan? Insecurity is peaking and international debate about Afghanistan's future is intensifying as the country's August 20 presidential election approaches. Amid the deadliest month for international forces since they entered Afghanistan in 2001, Western capitals are critically examining their role in an eight-year-old conflict that has no clear end in sight. More  Iraqis Divided On Success Of U.S Withdrawal Standing side by side with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Washington on July 22, President Barack Obama said he was encouraged by developments in Iraq. But three weeks after the last U.S. troops pulled out of Iraqi cities, towns, and villages, Iraqi citizens are not all optimistic about the level of security or the prospects for improvement. More  Obama Says Withdrawal On Schedule Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki held talks on July 22 at the White House with President Barack Obama to discuss a range of issues, including the transition of U.S. troops out of the country and what comes next in U.S.-Iraqi relations. More  As Leaders Debated, A Dialogue Was Born When we guides arrived in Moscow for the American National Exhibition in 1959, we encountered a mighty crowd of Russians hungry for contact with the outside world. It didn’t take long to realize we were learning at least as much as we were teaching. More |
