NPR 2008-08-04

Nobel Prize-winning author and famed Russian dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn has died at the age of 89, according to Russian news media reports. His graphic 1 accounts of the slave labor 2 camps in the former Soviet 3 Union earned him international renown 4 but two decades of exile. On his return to Moscow in 1994, Solzhenitsyn flatly said post-Soviet-era Russia still faced a host of problems. "No one expected that leaving communism behind would be painless, but nobody thought it would be this painful, either. Today, Russia is in great and terrible trouble. You can hear the groans 5 everywhere, that once again, the government is not fulfilling its obligations to its citizens." Solzhenitsyn is perhaps best-known for The Gulag Archipelago, his trilogy describing the brutality 6 of the Soviet government under dictator Joseph Stalin.

Lawmakers in Iraq have failed to resolve their differences over how to govern the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, despite pressure from the US. The dispute is blocking a power-sharing provincial 7 election. Also today, a truck bomb exploded in a Sunni area of Baghdad, killing 8 a dozen people and wounding nearly two dozen others. NPR's Jonathan Blakely has more from Baghdad.

Lawmakers wanted to hold a special session today in Baghdad, aimed at giving the go-ahead for provincial elections to take place, but not enough lawmakers showed up. Kurds say the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, one of the largest in the north belongs to them. Turkmen and Arabs disagree, and the dispute is stoking ethnic 9 tensions. The US ambassador to Iraq is involved in negotiations 10. One proposal would allow for elections to be held everywhere except Kirkuk, where all sides try to hammer out an agreement. But even if the election law passes, it's unclear provincial elections will be held this year. Before today's meetings, three explosions rocked Baghdad in the early morning hours. The biggest was a car bomb which killed 12 people near an Iraqi passport office. Two other roadside bombs targeted police convoys 11. Jonathan Blakely, NPR News, Baghdad.

The annual International AIDS Conference is getting under way this hour in Mexico City. NPR's Jason Beaubien reports.

Some 25, 000 people are expected to attend AIDS 2008. The conference on global HIV and AIDS is being inaugurated with speeches from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Peter Piot, the head of UNAIDS and Mexican President Felipe Calderon. This is the first time that an International AIDS Conference has been held in a Latin American country. The official program for the week-long event fills more than 400 pages. The overall focus of AIDS 2008 is on increasing access to HIV prevention and treatment, while eliminating stigma 12 related to the virus. Numerous papers on almost all aspects of AIDS research are being released and discussed, as the pandemic pushes through its third decade. The number of people around the world infected with HIV continues to increase. Jason Beaubien, NPR News, Mexico City.

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Victims of terrorism in Spain are protesting the release of a Basque separatist who has served his sentence for murdering 25 people. He's a prominent member of ETA, which has killed more than 800 people in the name of Basque independence. Jerome Socolovsky reports (has more) from Madrid.

Jose Ignacio de Juana Chaos 13 smiled as he was driven out of a prison about an hour from Madrid. The 52-year-old Basque militant 14 served 21 years for a string of terrorist attacks. They include a car-bombing that killed 12 policemen in 1986. De Juana nearly died last year during a hunger strike that he maintained as a court tried to prolong his custody 15. Photos of the militant leaving prison are splashed all over Spain's Sunday newspapers. Hundreds of victims and relatives of those killed by ETA are holding vigils this weekend, mainly in Madrid and the Basque city of San Sebastian. That's where De Juana is planning to live as a freeman. Prime Minister Jos Luis Rodr guez Zapatero said feelings of contempt are understandable, but he added, the law must be respected. For NPR News, I'm Jerome Socolovsky in Madrid.

Tropical Storm Edouard has formed in the Gulf 16 of Mexico and is churning its way westward 17 along the Louisiana coast towards Texas. Tropical storm warnings have been posted. Rebecca Waddington is a meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center.

"We are forecasting additional strengthening over the next 24 hours. Currently, we do not have it becoming a hurricane but it does mean a hurricane force. So it's not out of the question that it could become a Category 1 Hurricane before landfall."

Waddington says Edouard currently has winds of 45 miles an hour. Computer models have the storm likely making landfall along the Texas coast near Galveston later this week.