 RFE/RL Headlines 8/26/2009 5:06:43 PM A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| News  Karzai Widens Afghan Election Lead Amid Fraud Claims Afghanistan's incumbent president, Hamid Karzai, has increased his lead over his main challenger, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, according to latest figures. The release of more partial results of the country's August 20 election comes as the issue of election fraud continues to dominate Afghan political debate. More  NATO Declares 'Success' In Backing Secure Afghan Vote The NATO military alliance has offered its first comprehensive appraisal of its role in securing last week's presidential election in Afghanistan, declaring its operations a "success." At a briefing in Brussels, a NATO spokesman also called upon leading Afghan contenders to act "responsibly" while the final vote is being tallied. More  Edward Kennedy, Influential U.S. Senator, Dies At 77 Senator Edward Kennedy, one of the most illustrious figures in the United States Senate, has died of brain cancer at the age of 77. More  Aide Says Moldovan President Won’t Let Go Of Power Easily A friend-turned-foe of Moldova's outgoing President Vladimir Voronin says the communist veteran is unlikely to renounce power gracefully after his party lost its parliament majority in last month's elections. More Some 200 people have protested in Makhachkala, Daghestan, against continuing abductions of young Muslim men by security forces. More  Uzbekistan Building Military Base Near Kyrgyz Border Uzbekistan appears to be preparing to build an extensive new military facility near the Kyrgyz border, RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service reports. More  Prominent Georgian Journalist Released From Jail A prominent Georgian journalist has been released from prison after serving a four-year term for extortion, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Turkmen President Visits Sofia To Discuss Nabucco Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov is on a one-day visit to Sofia that is expected to focus on the Nabucco pipeline project, RFE/RL's Turkmen Service reports. More  Ingushetians On Trial For 'Nevsky Express' Bomb Attack NOVGOROD, Russia -- The Novgorod Oblast Court in northwestern Russia has resumed hearings into a two-year-old terrorist attack, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Radio Free Afghanistan Reporter Beaten By Police Radio Free Afghanistan's reporter in Kandahar was beaten by police as he was speaking with witnesses of a massive truck bombing in the center of the city. More  Another Independent Kazakh Newspaper Faces Closure The independent Kazakh weekly "Respublika" is facing closure after a bank announced it was filing charges against it, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports. More  Armenian Policeman Charged Over 2008 Clashes Investigators in Armenia have charged a police officer involved in the dispersal of last year's postelection demonstrations with exceeding his official authority, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. More Iraqi authorities have recovered an extremely valuable painting by Pablo Picasso that was stolen from the Kuwaiti National Museum during Iraq's military invasion in 1990, Radio Free Iraq (RFI) reports. More A bridge carrying both a railway and a highway over the Amu Darya River has been completed in Turkmenistan's eastern Lebap Province, RFE/RL's Turkmen Service reports. More Mushfiq Mammadov, a conscientious objector to military service in Azerbaijan, has been detained for refusing to perform compulsory military service. More  Will All The Armenians Please Stand Up! The Azerbaijan Eurovision story just won't die down. The government is now criticizing media organizations, including RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service, for political bias in their reporting. More Just a little plug for one of our new blogs at RFE/RL. Persian Letters offers a window onto Iranian life by translating and showcasing the works of Persian-language bloggers. More  Camping With The Basij Goldokhtar, a member of the Basij force and blogger, writes about her experience attending a Basij camp in the city of Mashhad: More  Azerbaijani Interrogated After Voting For Armenia Rovshan Nasirli, a 25-year-old Azerbaijani, was called to the National Security Ministry on August 12 to explain why he voted for an Armenian song in the televised Eurovision Song Contest in May. The officials said Nasirli's vote for Armenia -- Azerbaijan's long-standing rival -- was a matter of national security, and asked him for a written explanation before releasing him. More  New Allegations Bring Practice To Light In Iran In response to the criticism that followed his revelation of the use of rape to punish those detained in Iran's postelection unrest, reformist presidential candidate Mehdi Karrubi has upped the ante. The former parliament speaker has published on his website a graphic account of the rape of a young man who had been arrested and jailed amid the government's crackdown on protesters. More  Status Anxiety One year ago, Russia recognized Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. Almost no other country followed suit. Today, the two territories remain mired in legal limbo, with uncertain futures. More  Bosnian Serb Bank Controlled By PM Hands Out Millions Milorad Dodik, the prime minister of the Bosnian entity of Republika Srpska, controls a development bank that was designed to grow the economy and put people to work. But in its three years of existence, the bank has doled out millions of dollars to friends and shadowy companies, loans that have done little to help the lives of ordinary residents. More |
