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By Ben Farmer in Samangan province, and Nick Meo in Kabul
As Afghanistan's elections loom, President Hamid Karzai's strongest challenge comes from a candidate who crosses the country's ethnic divide
Its ancient engine emitting an unsettling rattle, the Russian-made MI-17 helicopter touched down in a choking cloud of dust in the mud brick Afghan town of Samangan. The haze had barely cleared around the disembarking figure of its VIP passenger, though, as the waiting crowd surged forward shouting his name – "Abdullah!".
A month ago, none of the 40 candidates running for president against Hamid Karzai seemed to have a chance, and the farmers of Samangan would not have bothered leaving their wheat fields for an election rally.

But suddenly, a lacklustre election campaign has sparked into a ferocious battle.
The hopes of millions who prayed for a better life after the fall of the Taliban government, and were frustrated, have been pinned on the challenger who promises to unseat Mr Karzai – the urbane former foreign minister, Dr Abdullah Abdullah.
With just 11 days to go before a vote that will help decide Afghanistan's future, many believe he has enough momentum to win – thanks not just to his own popularity, but to widespread disillusionment with the incumbent.

DUSHANBE, July 23 (RIA Novosti) - Tajikistan's president has proposed banning the Russian language from being used in public institutions and official documents, a move he said would promote the development of Tajik and bolster patriotism in the country.

"The dignity of a nation is determined, above all, by how people preserve and respect their language," Emomali Rakhmon said in a televised address late on Wednesday.

Rakhmon urged a new language law to amend 1989 legislation that defined Tajik as the official language and Russian as a language of "interethnic communication," which gave the latter a de facto official status allowing people to use it in dealing with authorities, and receive information and documents in Tajik or Russian.

The new draft law proposed by the president and submitted to parliament obliges all nationals to know Tajik and speak it in official situations and public workplaces.

The president criticized newspaper journalists for a poor knowledge of Tajik, for using clumsy or misleading phrases and terminology, and even making spelling mistakes.