 RFE/RL Headlines 2/26/2010 8:02:49 PM A daily digest of the English-language news and analysis written by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| News Kabul Attacks Kill At Least 16 At least 16 people have been killed and more than 36 wounded in a coordinated attack in the central, most fortified part of Kabul. More Tatarstan's Main Mosque Marks Prophet's Birth The Tatarstan capital's main Qol Sharif Mosque took part today in a unique celebration marking the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service reports. More A small group of reformist members of Iran's parliament want the government to release imprisoned journalists and political activists before the Persian New Year on March 21, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports. More  Saakashvili: Georgia Will Survive Putin Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili says his country survived the rule of despotic Persian shahs and can also survive the current Russian government, RFE/RL's Georgian Service reports. More  Georgia Parties Seek Mayoral Consensus Georgian opposition parties and their supporters have met in an attempt to pick a joint opposition candidate for the upcoming mayoral election in Tbilisi, RFE/RL's Georgian Service reports. More  Kyrgyz Police Not Jailed In Journalist's Death Two Kyrgyz policemen found guilty of beating a journalist so badly that he later died have been given suspended sentences. More  Kyrgyz Opposition Wants Ex-Minister Freed Two Kyrgyz opposition parties have declared their support for calls to release former Defense Minister Ismail Isakov from prison. More  Russia's KamAZ To Make Trucks In India Russia's KamAZ manufacturer says it has begun manufacturing trucks in India in a joint venture with the India-based Vectra Group. More  Armenia's Sukiasian Case Scrutinized Armenian's chief prosecutor says his office will oversee the controversial criminal proceedings launched by police against the brother of prominent businessman Khachatur Sukiasian. More  Iranian Activist Freed For Heart Surgery Ebrahim Yazdi, the imprisoned secretary-general of the Freedom Movement of Iran, has been released from prison and taken to a hospital for heart surgery. More  U.S. Rejects Iran Sunni Militant Link Washington has rejected accusations by Iran of U.S. backing for a Sunni Muslim rebel group whose leader was arrested in Iran this week. More  Iranian Union Leader Attacked In Prison Mansour Osanlou, the leader of Tehran's municipal bus service union, was reportedly assaulted by an inmate in an Iranian prison, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports. More  Smoking And Drinking Chimp Reuters picks up a "Komsomolskaya pravda" report on a chimpanzee whose smoking and boozing have landed him in hot water with his Moscow zookeepers. And zoogoers are tired of the shakedowns, too. More  The Rundown - February 26 A comprehensive review of news and opinion on RFE/RL's broadcast region More  Medvedev Nabbed The Wrong Guy President Dmitry Medvedev picked up a bunch of positive press on February 18 when, apparently in response to the massive numbers of police-abuse scandals that have emerged in recent months, appeared at an Interior Ministry conference and laid down the law. Even fellow Power Verticalist Brian Whitmore and myself were mildly impressed that Medvedev had summoned the power to dismiss two deputy interior ministers and some 13 other police generals. It is the common wisdom that the Interior Ministry is one of those areas of government that Vladimir Putin keeps strictly under his thumb, so it seemed a little odd to see Medvedev making a strike so close to Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev, a Putin protectorate. More  New Disagreements Emerge Within Georgian Opposition With a maximum of three months still to go before the Tbilisi mayoral election, Georgian opposition parties' hopes to field a single candidate to challenge incumbent Mayor Gigi Ugulava are on the verge of collapse. More  Five Arrested In Killing Of Daghestan's Interior Minister The announced arrest of five men suspected of plotting and perpetrating the killing in June 2009 of Daghestan's interior minister, Lieutenant General Adilgirey Magomedtagirov, has not ended speculation about the cirumstances of his death More  Commission Probing Circumstances Of Gamsakhurdia's Death To Question Shevardnadze The Georgian parliamentary commission established last fall to launch a new investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of former President Zviad Gamsakhurdia has summoned Eduard Shevardnadze for questioning. Shevardnadze was head of Georgia's ruling State Council at the time of Gamsakhurdia's death on New Year's Eve, 1993, a few months after his abortive attempt to regain power. More  Why Is My Blog Being Filtered? Blogger and lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei complains about Internet censorship. More  Peace With Taliban Remains Elusive Afghan government efforts to reconcile with moderate Taliban are already in motion, despite domestic opposition. But Kabul appears unprepared to provide the conditions insurgents want to see. More  What's Next For Climate Debate? Just two months ago, climate change dominated the news as the Copenhagen summit sought a new strategy against global warming. But after the summit's mixed results, the "Climategate" controversy, and the surprise resignation of the chief UN negotiator, the issue is mired in uncertainty. More  Iran's Hard-Liners Look To Justify A Nuclear Arsenal Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other Iranian officials have repeatedly emphasized the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program. But in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary, such official declarations appear to fall within an old tradition of dissimulation known as taqiyyeh or ketman. More UN Could Lift Saddam-Era Sanctions The sanctions were imposed in 1991 in response to the occupation of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein's regime. More |
