The Rundown - September 29

News & views on RFE's broadcast region

Iran
# Iran's "blogfather" has been sentenced to 19.5 years in prison
# Iran has banned two reformist political parties
# "Iran's Interrupted Lives" - Haleh Esfandiari, "NY Review Of Books"
# "The Iranian Spat Behind The Scenes" - Ian Bremmer, "Foreign Policy"

Russia
# Julia Ioffe on the sacking of Yuri Luzhkov
# "The Bear Growls" - Editorial, "Financial Times"
# "Beware Friendship With Moscow" - Simon Tisdall, "The Guardian"

Pakistan
# "The New York Times" reports on the Pakistani army's issues with the government
# Pakistan warns NATO over cross-border raids
# "The Deep State And Technocrats" - Kamran Shafi, "Dawn"
# "Who Attacked Umar Cheema?" - Editorial, "International Herald Tribune"

Afghanistan
# Hamid Karzai appoints a panel to negotiate with the Taliban
# Joshua Foust on Hamid Karzai's emotional outburst
# An excerpt from "Obama's Wars" by Bob Woodward

Iraq
# "The National" reports on murders in Iraq
# A U.S. general says the UK was "defeated" in Southern Iraq

Of Interest
# Authorities warn of a commando-style terrorist attack in Europe
# "The Serbian Surprise" - Charles Simic, "NY Review Of Books"

U.S. Politics/Foreign Policy
# Leon Panetta arrives in Pakistan today for a series of meetings
# "The New York Times" reports on CIA drone strikes in Pakistan
# "The Way Toward A Global Reset" - Mikhail Gorbachev, "The New York Times"
# Al Kamen's "In The Loop"