 RFE/RL Headlines 10/7/2009 5:10:05 PM A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| News  Controversy Grows Over UN Mission's Role Amid protests in Kabul by political activists and nongovernmental organizations against the United Nations' role in Afghanistan's contentious presidential election, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has increasingly found itself mired in infighting among some of its top diplomats. More  Remembering Politkovskaya Russians mark the third anniversary of the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was an outspoken critic of both the Kremlin and rampant human rights abuses in Chechnya. There are growing doubts about whether her killers will ever be brought to justice. More  U.S. President Sees Progress In Fight Against Al-Qaeda U.S. President Barack Obama paid a visit to the National Counterterrorism Center to praise the analysts who work in obscurity to keep the United States and its allies safe from terrorist threats. In his remarks, he cited progress against Al-Qaeda and said the United States must continue to apply "focused and relentless pressure" on extremist groups everywhere. More  Tajikistan Drops Russian As Official Language A new law on official languages has gone into effect in Tajikistan that removes Russian as the "language for interethnic communication," RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports. More  RFE/RL To Broadcast To Abkhazia, South Ossetia Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) has announced plans to launch daily broadcasts to the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia beginning in November. More  Cossack Leader Barred From Entering Ukraine The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) has said that its decision not to allow a Russian citizen, a leader of the Don Cossacks, to enter Ukraine was legitimate, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports. More  Russia's Ruling Party Demands Rights Council Apology The ruling United Russia party has demanded an apology from Ella Pamfilova, the chairwoman of the presidential Council for Promoting Civil Society and Human Rights, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Iraqi Election Commission Urges Vote Law's Approval Iraq's top election official has urged legislators of all parties to ratify a new electoral law in order to accelerate preparations for January national elections, RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq (RFI) reports. More The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) in Belgrade has presented a new report on the dead and missing people from the 1998-99 Kosovo war, RFE/RL's Balkan Service reports. More A memorial in Sevastopol to the ethnic Azeri veterans of World War II has been vandalized, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg will hear a case about the forcible placing of a rights activist in a psychiatric clinic, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Ahmadinejad's 'Jewish Family' Part II More evidence to suggest, or confirm, Ahmadinejad's Jewish ancestry. More  Informing People In Their Homes About Swine Flu Blogger "Baran Banoo" (Lady Rain) says she's been assigned the job of informing people in her neighborhood about swine flu. More  What If You Hold A Summit And No One Comes? The latest gathering of leaders from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is set to begin in the Moldovan capital, Chisinau. But the mood ahead of the summit is tense. Four out of five Central Asian leaders have declined to attend. Georgia, which formally withdrew from the post-Soviet grouping this summer, will be conspicuously absent. And Moldova's pro-Western prime minister has dismissed the CIS as "not viable," saying Chisinau's future lies with the West. More  Opponents Take On Armenian President Over Turkey Deal Armenia's government sees the rapprochement with Turkey as an opportunity to gain economic and diplomatic benefits for the tiny and impoverished country. But many among Armenia's 5.7-million-strong diaspora see it as a betrayal. As President Serzh Sarkisian nears the end of a four-country tour to drum up diaspora support for the thaw with Ankara, he must navigate a mosaic of deep mistrust, historical grievances, and bitter tensions. More  IMF, World Bank Revise Loan Conditions In Eastern Europe International financial institutions have been lending billions of dollars to governments in Central and Eastern Europe during the past year to help them weather the global financial crisis. Unlike previous lending by the IMF and the World Bank, the new loans carry fewer, but more focused requirements on economic reforms. More  Why The U.S. Should Continue To Push Iran On Human Rights Iranians who took to the streets this summer to protest electoral fraud failed to win a new election. But they nevertheless returned concerns about the Islamic republic’s human rights record to the international stage. More |
