 RFE/RL Headlines 8/14/2009 5:26:46 PM A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| From Our Bureaus  Abkhazia, South Ossetia Hire U.S. PR Firm The governments of Georgia's breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia have hired a U.S. public relations company to "improve their worldwide image," RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Kazakh Uyghurs End Mourning Period After Xinjiang Violence Uyghurs in Kazakhstan have held a commemoration for the victims of ethnic clashes in the neighboring Uyghur Autonomous Region in Xinjiang, China, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports. More A court in Astana has opened a hearing on two alleged religious extremists charged with helping to organize a terrorist group, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports. More Christian Group In Belarus Told To Leave Its Church An evangelical Christian group in Minsk called The New Life has been asked to leave its church, RFE/RL's Belarus Service reports. More  Bashkir Authorities Release Four Of Five Activists Four of five bloggers and activists who had been detained in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan have been released, RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service reports. More  Trial Begins For Alleged Georgian Spy In North Ossetia The Supreme Court of the Russian republic of North Ossetia began hearings on August 14 on the case of a man alleged to have spied for Georgia, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More Police in Daghestan shot dead three insurgents who opened fire on them when they were asked for their identification, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Ukrainians Protest Medvedev's Critical Letter To Yushchenko Dozens of activists from the Ukrainian People's Party have held a demonstration in front of the Russian Embassy in Kyiv, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports. More  Karabakh Deputies Urge Release Of Activist Eleven members of the unrecognized republic of Nagorno-Karabakh's parliament have signed a petition urging Armenian authorities to free a French national of Armenian descent who was arrested for his part in last year's antigovernment protests in Yerevan, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. More  Armenian Tourists Flocking To Georgia's Coast The number of Armenians vacationing on Georgia's Black Sea coast may reach a new high this year and bring the coastal region back as one of the most popular Armenian vacation destinations. More  U.S. Calls On Azerbaijan To Resolve Bloggers' Case U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza says he recently mentioned the case of the two jailed Azerbaijani bloggers to President Ilham Aliyev, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports. More  Tajik Official Denies Uzbek Water Station Was Broken Into A high-ranking Tajik border guard official denies reports that Tajik security forces and farmers have forced their way into an Uzbek-owned water-distribution station along the Uzbek-Tajik border, RFE/RL's Tajik 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.Click on any of the status updates for more information. More  Readers React To Kadyrov Interview More  Pacifying Pashtun Borderlands Pakistan's beleaguered western Pashtun border region is often in the headlines. The still unconfirmed death of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud created immense international media attention. More  Philip Gordon In Belarus; Radiation-Proof School Uniform Foreign Policy magazine is all over Belarus this week. Philip Gordon, a U.S assistant secretary of state, is in Belarus to meet with senior officials, although not apparently President Lukashenka. More  The Price Of A Song Rovshan Nasirli, a resident of the Azerbaijani capital Baku, this week received a surprise summons to the National Security Ministry for questioning. His transgression? Voting for the Armenian contestants in this year's Eurovision Song Contest. More  Will Ahmadinejad Be Stronger, Or Weaker, In Second Term? Iran has been in deep political crisis for two months since the June 12 presidential elections. But the nature of the crisis seems to be changing with time. The first phase pitted hard-line conservatives against reformers who say Mahmud Ahmadinejad stole the election. But that fight is increasingly being overshadowed by a second one: a public battle between Ahmadinejad’s camp and other powerful members of the conservative establishment over how powerful he will be in his second term. More  Georgian Blogger Blames Russians For Twitter Attack Giorgi Jakhaia made headlines when a cyberattack on his blog crippled services to millions of Twitter, Facebook, and LiveJournal users worldwide. A week later, Jakhaia -- known as "Cyxymu" -- is speaking out, blaming Russian hackers for the attack, which came on the one-year anniversary of the Russia-Georgia war. More  Presidential Contender Takes Message To The People While most Afghan presidential contenders campaign from fortified headquarters or travel in armored cars with gun-toting bodyguards, one candidate is getting his message out to remote corners of Afghanistan in a rickety minibus. Meet Ramzan Bashardost -- according to the polls, the third most popular candidate among the 35 contenders. More  Ahmadinejad's Cabinet Highlights Possible Iran Rift As Iran's President Mahmud Ahmadinejad prepares to present his new cabinet to parliament next week, experts say there are new signs of growing rift between the hard-line president and the conservative camp that traditionally supported him. Some conservative Iranian lawmakers have criticized Ahmadinejad for refusing to consult the parliament about his candidates and are hinting his actions could have an impact on the confidence vote. More  Justice Shouldn’t Be The Loser In Afghan Elections As the countdown toward election day in Afghanistan gets started, the Afghan people are enduring a new surge in armed violence and a growing sense of disenchantment. More  Pigs At The Trough What can you buy for 27 lei ($2.45)? Half a pack of Parliament cigarettes. Three ice cream bars. Six packs of Orbit chewing gum. A short ride in a taxi with a little left over to help pay for a ticket to the movies. But spending a weekend in a village in northern Moldova completely changed my view of what 27 lei is. More |
