 RFE/RL Headlines 8/4/2009 4:29:07 PM A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| News  Rights Group Calls Uzbek Reporter Jailing 'Travesty' U.S.-based Human Rights Watch has accused Uzbekistan of bringing "politically motivated charges" against a journalist critical of the government and said his trial was "a travesty of justice." More Russia said it was putting its troops in South Ossetia on alert after it warned Georgia it had the right to use force in the breakaway region over which Moscow and Tbilisi fought a war a year ago. More  Australia Foils Al-Qaeda-Linked Terror Plot Australian authorities say they have foiled a terrorist attack that would have been the worst in the country's history. More Iraqi Group Pushes For Freedom Of Information Act The director of an Iraqi media watchdog says his organization is pushing to have a Freedom of Information Act passed in parliament, RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq (RFI) reports. More  Georgian Opposition Activists Abducted, Beaten An activist for Georgian opposition leader Nino Burjanadze's Democratic Movement -- United Georgia is in hospital after being badly beaten, RFE/RL's Georgian Service reports. More  Cancer-Stricken Armenian Editor Remains Imprisoned Armenian prison officials have joined international human rights groups in calling for the release of opposition newspaper editor Arman Babajanian, who was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. More Tehran Protests After Ahmadinejad's Confirmation Just a few hours after President Mahmud Ahmadinejad was officially endorsed on August 3 by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for a second term, thousands of people protested in Tehran by honking their cars and chanting "death to the dictator." More  Hey Dictator! Watch Me Confess! A new website is using video satire contributed by participants around the world as a tool to embarrass the Iranian government. The all-volunteer project "Watch Me Confess!" aims to show the world "how ridiculous the false confessions propaganda really is," by airing the satirical "confessions" of ordinary people. More  Unusual Take On The Week's News Inspired by "The Atlantic's" mock "World Leaders" Facebook group, RFE/RL presents a Facebook-style summary of last week's events. More  Tashkent Says 'No Need' For Nearby Russian Base Uzbekistan issues a sharp rebuke to Russia and Kyrgyzstan over their plan to set up a Russian military base in the neighborhood. More  A Year Later, Survivors Of Russia-Georgia War Struggle To Rebuild Lives Georgia's Gori region, near the de facto border with South Ossetia, endured the worst of the five-day Russia-Georgia war last August. Hundreds of people from the regions had their homes destroyed and scores of civilians were killed. One year after the conflict, people from the region are still trying to put their lives back together. Some who lost their homes now live in tiny cottages funded by Georgian and European Union aid, waiting for their own houses to be rebuilt. Others live in settlements for internally displaced persons, and don’t know when – or whether – they will be able to return home. More  Motives Behind Uzbek Attack Remain Unclear Tashkent's chief imam remains in critical condition after he was stabbed multiple times outside his home last week in the Uzbek capital. Authorities are seeking three men suspected of carrying out the attack. The motive is believed to be revenge, with suspicion centering on Islamic extremists or possible business rivals. More |
