 RFE/RL Headlines 8/25/2009 6:31:36 PM A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| News  Partial Afghan Election Results Give Karzai Slim Lead After days of confusion and claims of outright victory by each of the top two contenders in the August 20 presidential elections, Afghan election authorities have announced the first partial results. With only 10 percent of the total votes counted, incumbent Hamid Karzai is in the lead with just over 40 percent of the tally. But his top rival, Abdullah Abdullah, is close behind, with nearly 39 percent. More  Galileo's Telescope Changed The World Four hundred years ago, the great astronomer and thinker Galileo Galilei presented his telescope to a world that had no idea how this piece of technology would change perceptions of man's place in the universe. For using this telescope caused Galileo to advance the theory that the Earth was not the center point of creation. More  White House To Probe Bush-Era Interrogation Techniques The White House has launched a criminal investigation into CIA questioning of terror suspects during the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush. More  Moldova's Communists Spurn Opposition Invite For Talks Moldova's ruling Communists have shunned an invitation to talk with all the opposition parties at one time and announced they want to talk about the new government with each party separately, RFE/RL's Moldovan Service reports. More  Armenian Economy Continues To Contract Armenia's economy continues to decline, showing an 18.5 percent decline in its gross domestic product (GDP) during the period of January through July, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. More  HIV/AIDS Cases On The Rise In Northern Tajikistan A northern Tajik province is reporting a large increase in the number of new cases of HIV this year, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports. More  Jailed Azerbaijani Bloggers Face Additional Charge Azerbaijani bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizada, arrested last month on charges of hooliganism, have been also charged with assault, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports. More  Armenian Police Chief Denies 'Friendly Fire' Killed Police The chief of Armenia's national police force denies that either of the two policemen killed in last year's postelection melee in Yerevan could have been killed by fellow police officers, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. More  Kyrgyz Rights Activists Concerned Over Jailed Opposition Leaders A Kyrgyz human rights activist says three opposition leaders are being abused and have had their lives threatened in jail, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports. More A man attacked and stabbed Bishop Safron in an Orthodox Church in the eastern Belarusian city of Mahileu on August 23, RFE/RL's Belarus Service reports. More The Week In Facebook Inspired by "The Atlantic's" mock "World Leaders" Facebook group, RFE/RL presents a Facebook-style summary of last week's events. More  Did Ukrainian Troops Fight In Russia-Georgia War? Ukraine has denied a Russian claim that Ukrainian soldiers fought alongside Georgian troops in last year's war with Russia. More  North Caucasus Resistance Sentences Chechen Leader To Death The Supreme Shariat Court of the Caucasus Emirate proclaimed in late 2007 by former Chechen Republic Ichkeria (ChRI) President and North Caucasus resistance commander Doku Umarov has issued a fatwa condemning to death Akhmed Zakayev, who heads the ChRI government in exile. More  Maliki, Shi'ite Bloc Prepare To Face Off Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki came to power as part of the alliance of Shi'ite religious parties that dominates the government. But now the two sides are going separate ways, with Maliki appearing ready to tie his fortunes to a multiconfessional alliance. More  The Fears Of An Iranian Bank Clerk The taxi that takes me to work every morning was late. Trying to avoid the darting beams of the morning sun, I snuggled under a sycamore tree. It reminded me of a European friend of mine who visited Iran in August 2000 and who insisted on walking in the sun and avoiding the shade. More  Let's Make A Deal Officially, Dmitry Medvedev is in Mongolia to mark the 70th anniversary of the battle of Khalkhin Gol, when combined Soviet-Mongolian forces repelled a Japanese invasion. But the Russian president's two-day visit has far more significance on the economic front. More  Rethinking Kyrgyzstan's Tulip Revolution Kyrgyzstan's 2005 "Tulip" or "People's" Revolution was hailed by many as a promising triumph of democracy in the brief era of "colored" revolutions. But the years since have seen a regression on the country's path to democracy. More  What Did Medvedev Tell Voronin? Communist Party leader and acting Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin met last week in Sochi with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. How was the meeting – which was announced at the last moment without any agenda being offered – arranged? Why wasn’t anything more than a cursory announcement presented to the media? Was it Voronin who pushed for the talks? If so, he must have had some extraordinarily compelling arguments. More |
