 RFE/RL Headlines 8/31/2009 6:35:53 PM A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| News  Fatal Shootings Rock Uzbek Capital, Despite Tight Security A deadly shoot-out between police officers and unidentified armed men in the Uzbek capital has left at least two people dead and several police officers wounded. This and unconfirmed reports of other shootings come after Uzbekistan closed its borders and clamped down on security ahead of national Independence Day celebrations. More  Parliament Begins Debate On Ahmadinejad's Nominees Iran's parliament has begun a three-day session to debate and vote on President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's proposed new cabinet. Ahmadinejad, in presenting his nominations, said the new government was committed to preserving justice and national dignity, and would be decisive in confronting any pressure from the West. More  Analysis Of Ukraine Gongadze Tapes 'Almost Complete' Ukrainian authorities say they are close to completing their analysis of audio tapes that allegedly implicate a former president in the murder of a prominent independent journalist, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports. More  Kyrgyzstan Marks Independence Anniversary Kyrgyzstan has been marking the 18th anniversary of its independence with official ceremonies but also criticism from a prominent intellectual, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reported. More  Armenian Journalist Rejects 'Mistaken Identity’ Explanation A prominent television journalist who was beaten up by unknown assailants has dismissed the police version that the attack was a case of mistaken identity, RFE/RL’s Armenian Service reported. More  Tajikistan Opens 'Liberty' Tunnel Partly Financed By China Tajikistan has officially opened a tunnel on a road south of Dushanbe that was completed with financial help from China, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reported. More  Is Mourinho Full Of It? Football coach Jose Mourinho has sparked controversy after he blamed a Muslim football player's poor performance on his fasting during Ramadan. More  Deadly Head Scarves Authorities in Uzbekistan have banned the wearing of hijabs, or Islamic head coverings, as a security measure until Thursday. More  Democracy For 1.20 Euros Yesterday I was sitting with some French friends in a pleasant Paris café. My friends were all cursing the government. To hear them tell it, President Nicolas Sarkozy does nothing but flex his muscles for young women passing by. And the prime minister is an idiot. And parliament hasn’t done anything sensible in ages and all of them are just drains on the country’s budget. More  Iraq's Paralympic Success Radio Free Iraq has an interesting story on their website about Iraq's paralympic team, which took home a surprising 20 medals (including five gold, five silver, and 10 bronze) at the 2009 Czech Open Athletic Championships, which were held in Olomouc, Czech Republic, from August 21-23. More  Armenian Opposition Refuses To Cooperate With Unrest Probe The Armenian National Congress (HAK), one of Armenia's most influential opposition groupings, has refused to cooperate with the ad hoc parliament commission conducting a probe into last year's postelection unrest in clarifying HAK allegations that "illegal armed groups" were used to suppress street demonstrations in Yerevan on March 1-2, 2008. More  Is New Georgian Defense Minister A Psychopath? Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has incurred harsh criticism by naming as his new defense minister Bacho Akhalaya, who during his tenure as head of the Justice Ministry department responsible for overseeing prisons was accused of triggering two separate prison disturbances by arbitrarily maltreating prisoners. More  Islam Becomes Mandatory Study in Secular Tajik Schools With schools set to open on September 1, Tajikistan becomes the first country in Central Asia to break with the tradition of secular education and add Islam to its curriculum. Some see it as part of an effort by the government to take an active role in overseeing how the nation's young are learning their religion. More  Disputed History Poland will mark the 70th anniversary of the start of World War II with a gathering that will include Russian and German leaders. Russia's Vladimir Putin is due to make a speech aimed at boosting Russian-Polish ties -- strained by differing historical accounts about the war. More  Hard-Line Prosecutor Transferred, But Little Changes Iran's judiciary chief has named hard-line Tehran prosecutor Said Mortazavi deputy prosecutor-general, though it's not clear whether his powers will increase in his new post. Mortazavi, who has played a key role in the ongoing mass trail of reformists, has been behind the closures of many pro-reform publications as well as the arrests of activists and intellectuals. More  Interview: Romania's Last King Recalls War's Start RFE/RL interviews the abdicated king of Romania, King Michael, about his involvement in World War II, the future of Romania, and the problem with Moldova. More  Kurd-Arab Power Struggle Leads To Calls For Delay Iraqi officials say the country's first national census since 1987 could be postponed indefinitely because of fears it may stoke ethnic and political tensions in the north. Political rifts between Kurds and Arabs are at play, as is control of key oil fields. More  Prosecutor In 1994 Argentina Bombing Implicates Iran RFE/RL's Radio Farda correspondent Mohammad Reza Kazemi interviewed Alberto Nisman, the prosecutor handling the case of the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Argentina. The prosecution asserts that the attack, which killed 85 people and wounded 300, can be traced to Hizbullah and Iran. Ahmed Vahidi, recently named to be Iranian defense minister, is alleged to have been involved in planning the attack. More  Turkey’s Energy Hub: Ignore At Your Peril It behooves Western decision makers to fully appreciate Turkey's energy big picture or risk upcoming surprises such as Armenian electricity exports to Turkey and a Russia-dominated Turkish nuclear sector. More  Afghan Election Highlights School System Failures Attacks on polling stations housed in schools during the recent Afghan elections highlight the need for de-politicizing the education system. More  Poetry from Paktia to Prague More |
