Unbowed, Ahmadinejad Shows Up in Russia

On Tuesday, amid reports of escalating violence and protest across his country, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad slipped into a plane and jetted off to Yekaterinburg, a Russian city nestled in the Ural mountains. Iran seethed in the aftermath of Ahmadinejad’s disputed election victory last weekend even as foreign journalists were officially barred from reporting street protests a day after the largest demonstrations seen in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Meanwhile, the powerful Guardian Council is investigating allegations of poll fraud, and has suggested a partial recount — a solution main opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi has rejected.

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Kashmir unrest claims 2 Indian soldiers, 3 militants

Two soldiers, including an officer, and three militants have been killed in a fierce gunfight in the Kupwara district on the north Kashmir frontier, the Indian army said Monday. An army spokesman said the gunfight erupted Saturday during a search operation in the forested area of Hatmulla, near the Line of Control that marks the border between India and Pakistan in Kashmir.

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India’s parliament elects first woman speaker

India’s lower house of parliament elected a woman as its speaker Wednesday, a first in the male-dominated chamber’s history. Meira Kumar is also a member of the “untouchable” Dalit class, the lowest rung in the centuries-old caste system in the country.

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Amnesty: Economic troubles heighten rights abuses

Global economic troubles are fueling a human-rights crisis, Amnesty International warned as it released its "Report 2009: State of the World’s Human Rights" on Thursday. “The economic downturn has aggravated abuses, distracted attention from them and created new problems,” Amnesty Secretary General Irene Khan said in a news release. “In the name of security, human rights were trampled on

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Cyclone death toll near 200 in India, Bangladesh

The death toll from a powerful cyclone that hit India and Bangladesh this week has climbed to at least 180, officials said Wednesday. In Bangladesh, some 111 people have died and more than 6,600 others have been injured in the storm, said Sultanul Islam Chowdhury from the country’s food and disaster management ministry

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