Stories about Central Asia & Caucasus from July, 2007
Afghanistan: Korean hostage crisis
Eugene Echo is keeping up with the latest developments in the Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan and complains about the lack of attention given to the story by US media.
Kyrgyzstan: HIV scandal
Bonnie Boyd reports of a scandal in southern Kyrgyzstan in which nine children have contracted HIV/Aids due to medical and institutional negligence.
Uzbekistan: Soviet architecture
Joshua Kucera speculates why Tashkent features some of the best gems of Soviet architecture.
Caucasus: Attitudes towards NGOs
Social Science in the Caucasus unveils some figures on how people in the three countries Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia perceive non-governmental organisations.
Armenia: Digging holes
Many bloggers attended a protest in Armenia's capital Yerevan where people voiced their dismay at a new construction site in the city's center: a huge hole is being dug 300 meters away from the municipal authorities – but no one, not even the mayor, knows what's really going on there....
Kyrgyzstan: Mourning
Noise, a blogger originally from Kyrgyzstan, is saddened to learn about the deaths of the icons of world cinematography Bergman and Antonioni: “We will install a projector and a screen in our yard today, and will show their films to everyone.”
Kyrgyzstan: Issyk-Kul
morrire posts pictures from her visit to the southern shore of Issyk-Kul, one of the biggest high-altitude lakes in the world – and favourite holiday destination for Kyrgyzstani citizens.
Uzbekistan: Digital boom?
Jamiyat translates an article which gives the impression that the use of internet and mobile telecommunication is growing rapidly in Uzbekistan.
CIS: Blog Camp
Mirsulzhan posts an announcement for the upcoming CIS Blog Camp in Kiev.
Central Asia: Expert interview
James of neweurasia interviews Central Asia specialist Dr. Eric McGlinchey – the topics of the long conversation include radical Islam, Russian influence, the regime in Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan's development.
Global Voices in Persian Takes off
Global Voices in Persian finally takes off officially. It started its first baby steps in June and a few of its translations have already been republished on a few sites including a very popular one, Gooya.com and the Iranian Digg,Balatarin. On good days we get around 350 hits and 250...
Korea: On the kidnapped Koreans
Robert Koehler at The Marmot's Hole follows up on a series of posts looking at the plight of the 23 Korean missionaries—now on hunger strike—recently taken for hostage in Afghanistan in ‘My personal view on the current hostage crisis,’ an answer to his question: “why would 23 men and mostly...
Uzbekistan: Domestic violence, a prison for Uzbek Paris Hiltons and “Iran, go home!”
This week on Uzbekstani blogs: The difficult role of women in society and domestic violence stand in stark contrast to the flamboyant life of the president's daughter. Also, a young Uzbek football player displays a "Iran Go Home" poster before a match, Uzbek civil society is under threat, and a special prison is being built for delinquent civil servants.
Afghanistan/Kazakhstan: Moving around 42 kids
Tom T retells his adventures of accompanying 42 young Afghan students across the border from Kyrgyzstan to Kazakhstan.
Armenia: Getting rid of old cars
A new rule is set to remove taxis older than 10 years from the streets in Armenia. While this has already led to an outcry of taxi drivers afraid to loose their jobs, not everyone is unhappy about the news: Christian Garbis says that the new regulation will help improve...
Uzbekistan: Social capital
Rowan Wagner sheds some light on the Uzbek “gap” – a (usually) gender-based group of people that meets up regularly to share experience, practical tips, and gossip.
Tajikistan: Buzkashi
Men on horseback playing a football-like game with a goat carcass instead of a ball? Erik Petersson took some breathtaking photos during a Buzkashi game in Tajikistan.
Turkmenistan: In the last place
Abdul Gamid wonders why Turkmenistan fares so badly in the latest World Bank governance rankings.
Japan: Memories of Internment in the USSR
James from Japan Probe reports on a multi-lingual website that displays the drawing of a Japanese soldier, Kiuchi Nobuo, on his memories of the World War II.
Turkmenistan: 2021
Abdul Gamid asks his readers to think about Turkmenistan's future: “How will our country be in 2021?”.
Kyrgyzstan: Sealing off the capital
Asel reports that the Kyrgyz authorities are planning to impose harsh restrictions on entering the capital Bishkek during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in August.
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