 RFE/RL Headlines 10/29/2009 5:46:11 PM A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| News Detained Iranian Journalist On Hunger Strike An Iranian journalist and political activist detained after the Islamic republic's disputed election in June has gone on hunger strike, a reformist website has reported. More  Clinton, In Pakistan, Says 'This Is Not Your Fight Alone' In the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore today, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterated the Obama administration's resolve to help Islamabad in its complex struggle against extremism. Experts suggest that while Clinton's visit might be a good start to improving ties between Washington and Islamabad, much more will be needed to establish a stable relationship. More  Iran Hands Over Response On Nuclear Fuel Deal Iran has presented its response on a draft nuclear deal to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. More  Iran Will 'Cooperate,' But Won't Retreat On 'Nuclear Rights' Iran will not retreat "one iota" on its nuclear rights, but it is ready to cooperate on issues regarding atomic fuel, power plants, and nuclear technology, President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has said. More  Kyrgyzstan To Pay Gas Debt To Uzbekistan Kyrgyzstan plans to pay its debt for Uzbek natural gas by December 1, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports. Deputy Prime Minister Akylbek Japarov told RFE/RL that the gas debt will be discussed by the Kyrgyz parliament on October 30. More  Crimean Tatar Leader Claims FSB Behind Murder Plan Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzhemilev says he believes Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) is behind a special operation to assassinate him, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports. More  Russian Election Commission Members Investigated For Fraud A criminal case has been opened against 10 members of the local election commission in Russia's eastern Irkutsk Oblast, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Another Uzbek Student Dies During Cotton Harvest A 10th young person has died in Uzbekistan while involved in compulsory work on the cotton harvest, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service reports. More  Afghan Scholars Call On People To Vote In Runoff The Kabul-based Council of Scholars says its members will take part in the second round of the presidential election, RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan reports. More  Turkmen Environmental Activist Given Five-Year Jail Term Prominent Turkmen environmental activist Andrei Zatoka has been sentenced to five years in prison for hooliganism, RFE/RL's Turkmen Service reports. More  Russian Mayor's Comments About Roma Criticized Sochi Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov's controversial comments about Roma have been criticized by Romany leaders and human rights activists, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Calls For Iran’s 'Blogfather' To Be Released From Prison The international Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has called on the country's judiciary to release blogger Hossein Derakhshan, who was arrested a year ago. More  Working For The CIA In Afghanistan According to a "New York Times" report published on October 28, Ahmed Wali Karzai, the younger half brother of embattled Afghan President Hamid Karzai, has been on the U.S. CIA payroll for the past eight years despite being accused of being linked to the mushrooming drug trade in the region. More  Not Only Tehran, But All Iran Will Be Green Blogger Alefba (Alphabet) says the opposition to Mahmud Ahmadinejad, especially students, should use the official occasion of November 4, which marks the anniversary of the occupation of the U.S. Embassy following the 1979 revolution, to demonstrate against the Iranian president. More  Iran's Khamenei Says Don't Question Election Iran' s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has described questioning the country's disputed June 12 presidential vote as the "biggest crime." More  'Not Enough Concern' From Kremlin On AIDS, Other Diseases The number of Russians infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, has doubled during the past eight years. It's an alarming trend, and Western health experts say it's time for the Russian leadership to seriously address AIDS and the myriad health threats facing the country, in order to help forestall a looming demographic catastrophe. More  Short On Decisions, Long On Controversy The EU's autumn summit is likely to be a frustrating affair. Infighting threatens to overshadow the morale-boosting effects typically expected from such gatherings. Foot-dragging by the Czech Republic in ratifying the bloc's Lisbon Treaty means pressing decisions on top EU appointments must be put off. More  Internet Set To Be 'Internationalized' A new global address system for the Internet could soon be introduced that will make the Internet even more international -- making it possible for web domain names written entirely in Cyrillic, Arabic, Chinese, or other scripts not based on the Latin alphabet. More  Working With Russia To Prevent Eurasian Collapse The Eurasian region continues to disintegrate, and neither Russia nor the West has been able to arrest the destabilizing dynamics. The West's attempts to secure and stabilize Eurasia after the end of the Cold War must be recognized as a failure. More  Moving Beyond Russia's Embrace Russia enjoys dabbling in the domestic politics of its neighboring countries, publicly supporting its favorite politicians and demonstrating its contempt for those whom it dislikes. But it rarely -- at least among its European neighbors -- gets the result it is seeking. The most recent example is Moldova. More |
