 RFE/RL Headlines 2/19/2010 7:10:41 PM A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| News  Russian Supermarket Shooter Gets Life In Prison One day after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced major law-enforcement reforms, a Moscow court has sentenced a former Moscow police officer to life in prison for a fatal April 2009 shooting spree. More  International Outcry Follows IAEA Iran Report International condemnation is pouring in a day after the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a report that its information about Iranian activities offers grounds for concern that Tehran is currently working on a nuclear warhead -- the first time it has used such a formulation in one of its reports. More  U.S. Envoy Holbrooke To Central Asia Richard Holbrooke, President Barack Obama's special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, is set to make a quick but thorough swing through Central Asia this weekend. More  Biden Urges Passage Of Nuclear Treaty U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden says the United States will ask for concrete commitments from other nations to secure their loose nuclear material at a summit this April in Washington. More  Former Kyrgyz Minister Loses Appeal A Kyrgyz military appeals court today upheld the verdict of former Kyrgyz Defense Minister Ismail Isakov. More  Armenian Oppositionist Expects Turkey-Armenia Pacts To Pass Committee A leader of the opposition Armenian Revolutionary Federation--Dashnaktsutyun (HHD) expects his parliamentary committee to approve the recent protocols between Armenia and Turkey, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. More  South Ossetia To Introduce New Passports The leader of Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia, Eduard Kokoity, says that by the end of this year "citizens of South Ossetia" will be issued new internal passports, travel documents, birth certificates, diplomas, and other documents, RFE/RL's Echo of the Caucasus reports. More Vandals damaged the graves of 33 World War II veterans in the city of Azov in Russia's Rostov Oblast on February 18, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Abkhaz Leader Says Russians Will Be Able To Buy Property The leader of Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia, Sergei Bagapsh, said in Moscow that Russian citizens would soon be eligible to buy property in Abkhazia, RFE/RL's Echo of the Caucasus reports. More  Armenian Entrepreneur Appeals To Leaders For Justice A leading Armenian businessman who says he is a victim of political persecution has appealed to the country's top leadership for justice. More  The Politics Of Police Reform Were the police reforms President Dmitry Medvedev announced yesterday also a political power play? Perhaps. But it will take a little spade work to know for sure. More  Voter-List Row Casts Pall Over Preparations For Georgian Municipal Elections Wildly inaccurate voter lists were one of the shortcomings of the May 2008 Georgian parliamentary elections singled out for criticism by election observers. In an attempt to preclude a repetition of that criticism, Georgia's Central Election Commission has revised the current lists to determine how many people are entitled to vote in the municipal elections. More At its inaugural session on February 19, the Georgian parliamentary group for friendship with the North Caucasus republics drafted an appeal to the parliament of those republics. More  More Afghan Civilians Leaving Marjah Ahead Of Offensive More civilians are trickling into Lashkar Gah, capital of Afghanistan's southern Helmand Province, fleeing the week-old NATO and Afghan offensive that aims to clear the Taliban out of the agricultural town of Marjah, a major insurgent stronghold and smuggling crossroads. More  IAEA Report Shows 'Greater Sense of Urgency' On Iran's Nuclear Progress In a new report, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) suggests for the first time that Iran is actively pursuing a nuclear-weapons capability. Shannon Kile, a senior nonproliferation expert at the Stockholm Peace Institute, discussed the report and the tougher mood at the UN watchdog agency. More  Will Turkmen President's Surprise Appeal Produce 'Real' Opposition Parties? Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov surprised his country on February 18 by calling for the creation of opposition political parties, in a country that hasn't had one in over 18 years since independence. More  Why Iran's Green Movement Objects To President's Economic Style What keeps Iran's Green Movement alive, despite being muscled off the streets? One big factor is anger over President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's peculiar vision of economics. More |
