 RFE/RL Headlines 7/28/2009 6:21:08 PM A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| News  U.S. Drive For Middle East Peace Gathers Pace The United States has committed four top officials to the effort to secure a comprehensive peace deal in the Middle East. This is the first time that such a concentration of U.S. diplomatic "firepower" has been applied simultaneously to the region's intractable problems. More  U.S. Defense Secretary In Iraq To Talk Security U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is in Iraq at the start of a two-day visit. He is to meet with officials in Baghdad and in the Kurdish autonomous region to discuss ways to build security and stability in the country. More  Opposition To Defy Moscow Officials With Meeting Russia's opposition Other Russia coalition says it will hold a "Meeting of Dissent" in Moscow even if it does not receive official permission, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Kazakh Rights Activist Investigated In Deadly Traffic Accident The director of a Kazakh human rights organization is being investigated in a road accident in Almaty in which a man was killed, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports. More  Turkmenistan Holds Elections For Local Councils Turkmenistan held nationwide elections for local councils on July 26, RFE/RL's Turkmen Service reports. More  Jailed Kazakh Uranium Chief's Wife Not Cooperating The wife of the jailed former president of Kazakhstan's uranium-producing giant, Kazatomprom, is refusing to cooperate with the National Security Committee (KNB) More  Another Swine Flu Case Reported In Kazakhstan A teenager in Almaty was found to be carrying H1N1 flu, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports. More  Alleged Insurgent On Tajik TV Says He Is Daghestani A man shown on Tajik television said he is a Daghestani with Russian citizenship and an alleged member of an insurgent group that was fighting against Tajik forces in eastern Tajikistan, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports. More  Eight Insurgents Killed In Daghestan Eight insurgents were killed by security forces in Daghestan in shoot-outs late on July 27, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Election Observers Detained International election observers traveling to Moldova have been detained and others expelled, RFE/RL's Ukrainian and Moldovan services report. More  Another Victim Of Postelection Unrest Buried The body of Amir Javadifar, the latest known victim of the postelection crackdown, was buried on July 27 at Tehran's Behesht Zahra cemetery. More The famous Iranian actress Pegah Ahangrani was detained by security forces on July 26, reportedly in relation to the postelection crisis. More  San Francisco Artist Pays Tribute To 'Neda' California-based artist Paula Slater unveiled a sculpture of Neda Agha Soltan in San Francisco on July 25 on the occasion of the International Day Of Solidarity With The People Of Iran. She talked to RFE/RL's Radio Farda correspondent Nader Sadighi. More  G.I. Gurbanguly We reported earlier this month about Turkmenistan's hands-on president performing surgery and attending his own book signing with the same nonchalance that we might pick up Starbucks on the way to work. More  #moldovavotes We're blogging Moldova's crucial parliamentary elections on July 29. More There is a sense of outrage in Iran following the country's recent spate of air crashes. People are blaming the government for poor maintenance and the sanctions against Iran that prevent the country from upgrading its air fleet. Iranian airlines have increasingly turned to Russian aircraft, which don't have the best safety record in the world. More A spoof song which makes fun of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's hard man image as the savior of Russia's battered economy has been winning fans on the Internet. More  Reset 2.0 U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's tough and blunt comments about Russia in a recent interview with Wall Street Journal appear to have surprised more than a few people. They shouldn't have. Biden's remarks actually fit into a pattern that has emerged over the past month as the White House tweaks its Russia policy in response to the Kremlin's recent behavior. Call it a reset of the reset. More  Georgian Opposition Takes Time Out The Georgian opposition parties that launched open-ended protests on April 9 in the hope of forcing President Mikheil Saakashvili to resign have suspended their daily protests until September. More  Georgian NGO Leader Says Militants Encamped In Pankisi Zaal Kasrelishvili, who heads the Tbilisi-based Confederation of Peoples of the Caucasus, was quoted on July 27 by the Georgian weekly "Mteli kvira" as claiming that some 40 militants are currently encamped in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge close to the border between Georgia and Russia, waiting to cross into Chechnya or Ingushetia. More  Mediators Amend Draft Karabakh Peace Proposals The French, Russian, and U.S. co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group that seeks to mediate a political solution to the Karabakh conflict have modified the so-called Madrid Principles intended to serve as the basis for such an agreement, U.S. co-Chairman Matthew Bryza told RFE/RL's Armenian Service on July 27 following two days of consultations in Krakow with his fellow co-chairs. More  Bracing For Another Contentious Election Moldovans are set to go to the polls in snap elections that may determine their country's future. But critics say the Communists rigged the first vote in April, and are continuing to commit violations in order to stay in power. More  EU Watches As Moldova Prepares For 'Crucial' Poll EU officials describe Moldova's election as a "crucial test," but the bloc is struggling for leverage. The EU faces a number of challenges as it tries to come to grips with developments in its tiniest "Eastern Partner." More  Moldova's Far-Flung Voters Moldova is bracing for potentially decisive elections that could lift it out of political deadlock or plunge it into fresh chaos. But the country's large -- and deep-pocketed -- diaspora complains it's being excluded. More  Viable Opposition Emerges In Regional Elections Preliminary election results from northern Iraq's Kurdish region show the two traditional ruling Kurdish parties securing the presidency and a majority of seats in parliament. But as the final results are being tallied, it also appears that a viable opposition has emerged in the region with a reformist agenda. More Election Monitors Expelled According to our RFE/RL's Ukrainian and Moldovan services, international election observers traveling to Moldova have been detained and others expelled. More  How It Ought To Be What's the point of this story? One of my readers left a comment asking me to explain "what is democracy and what do you eat it with." More  The Evidence Mounts It's difficult to imagine the patience and fortitude it must demand from Moldovan democracy activists to meticulously catalogue violations of the internationally accepted norms of electoral conduct, from the most minor to the grossest. More  'A National Psychosis' RFE/RL's Russian Service correspondent in Chisinau, Irina Severin, outlined the Moldovan elections in a Q&A More  The Battle Is Joined A group of independent experts and analysts representing various think tanks and NGOs I met this week accused the Communist authorities here of every kind of electoral fraud imaginable. "Independent" clearly does not mean "neutral" in Moldova. More |
