The Chechen leader of a children's charity and her husband were found shot dead today, the latest victims in a string of murders of human rights activists and journalists in the troubled Russian republic of Chechnya. Zarema Sadulayeva and husband Alik Dzhabrailov were kidnapped from the offices of Save the Generation, an NGO led by Sadulayeva dedicated to helping children suffering the effects of the devastating wars in Chechnya. The bodies of the couple were later found in the trunk of their own car.

Chechen leader and Kremlin comrade Ramzan Kadyrov denounced the killings, blaming them on a faction looking to destabilize and divide Chechen society. This tone of condemnation was a very different sentiment from the one Kadyrov recently leveled against Natalya Estemirova, human rights activist and journalist killed in Chechnya in July. In comments from an interview with Radio Free Liberty, Kadyrov claims Estemirova "never had any honor or sense of shame" and also rather crassly denied any role in her murder -- "Why would Kadyrov kill women that no one needs?"

Human rights organizations have called on the Russian government to stop the murders, and to staunch what Amnesty International called the "complete disregard for rule of law that prevails in Chechnya today." Kadyrov's response to these kinds of accusations, in a fashion popular among Russian politicians, was to change the subject to the open wound of the 2008 Russian-Georgian War in South Ossetia and blame America: "Human rights are violated all over the world. America pressures absolutely everyone. And no one says anything about it. Take South Ossetia. The Americans snuck in there at night, shot up the entire population, and left. And everyone's silent about it."

Mssrs. Kadyrov, Putin, and Medvedev: How many more need to be killed in Chechnya before that silence is broken? And who is left to break the silence? NPR reports that a major Russian radio station, Ekho Moskvy, tried to contact other human rights activists in Chechnya for their comments on the story, with no luck: ""We looked down our list and next to almost every name is the word 'died,' 'died,' 'died."'

Three American hikers who have been detained in Iran since July 31st, including Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd, and Josh Fattal, apparently unwittingly strayed over the border from Iraqi Kurdistan, according to a fourth member of their party, Shon Meckfessel. Meckfessel, who did not join his friends on the ill-fated hike, wrote in a statement that the four were travelling in Iraqi Kurdistan on vacation, and his friends went off on a recommended hike to popular tourist destination Ahmed Awa, an area known for its lovely waterfall. Apparently unaware that Ahmed Awa was near the Iranian border, the three were detained while hiking in the area by Iranian authorities, and have yet to be released. Meckfessel writes, "I hope that people understand my friends' presence in the area for what it was: a simple and very regrettable mistake."

With the recent release of journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee from North Korean custody, thanks to a deus ex machina intervention from former U.S. President Bill Clinton, the question being asked in the Iran case is where diplomacy goes next. Have Clinton's actions in North Korea piqued the interest of the Ahmadinejad regime, perhaps empowering them to turn these hikers into pawns in a greater diplomatic game with the United States? Iran has detained many Americans over the years, most recently arresting Iranian-American scholar Kian Tajbakhsh, charged with instigating post-election violence.

The story of one of these hikers, freelance journalist and documentary photographer Shane Bauer, was featured in today's episode of Democracy Now below, which airs on Link TV. Bauer, an Arabic speaker and graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, delivered a report for Democracy Now in February 2009 on U.S. military alliances with Iraq's Sunni militias.

Link's latest episode of Latin Pulse/Pulso Latino travels to Toribio, Colombia, symbol of the indigenous resistance movement following a devastating attack by FARC guerillas in 2005. With their land under attack, occupied by guerillas, paramilitaries, and police, the Naza Indians native to this region in Southern Colombia are struggling to pick up the pieces. The dangers for civilians remain high in Colombia's Cauca region, as FARC guerillas, drug traffickers and police continue to do battle, including this recent attack in Buenos Aires, Cauca, Colombia.

This video footage comes from Colombian TV program Contravia, led by investigative journalist Hollman Morris, who was featured in this previous Latin Pulse interview. The Foundation for a New Iberian-American Journalism, an organization founded by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, awarded this episode of Contravia its highest prize in 2007 for journalistic excellence.

Exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer has become a prominent voice in the fight against what she describes as Chinese oppression of the Turkic speaking Muslim group, the Uighurs (or Uyghurs). Demonstrations in July have brought the conflict, centered in the Xinjiang region of China, into the media spotlight. Recently Chinese hackers attacked the Melbourne International Film Festival website in an attempt to stop the prestigious international festival from screening a documentary about Kadeer, The Ten Conditions of Love. In this Link TV video host James Zogby interviews Kadeer.

From now on Link TV will be posting Viewpoint with James Zogby weekly, so check back! Also check out this video over at Global Pulse: Uighurs vs Han: China's West Side Story.

Jamal Dajani's latest Mosaic Intelligence Report on Link TV looks at Palestine, and the upcoming congress of the Fateh (or Fatah) political party, a faction of the PLO that is facing its own internal squabbles and charges of corruption. As the video makes clear, there is no love lost between rival factions Fateh and Hamas, and the divide between the Fateh base in the West Bank and Hamas-controlled Gaza seems far wider than the mere 25 geographic miles would indicate. And for most Palestinians, neither Fateh nor Hamas provide effective governance, or any real hope for a unified Palestinian state.

Read Dajani's article on the Huffington Post for more, including a very lively discussion. And check out daily episodes of Mosaic: World News from the Middle East and Dajani's Twitter feed for updates.

In the meantime, don't forget that right now Mosaic, the Mosaic Intelligence Report and Link's Global News Hour with Al Jazeera English need your support! Keep this unique and unparalleled news resource alive by making a donation to Link TV today.