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11/2/2011 9:11:04 PM
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FEATURES
 Russian Leader's Honors To Critical Journalists Raise Eyebrows Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has quietly signed off on an order to bestow state journalism prizes to a number of reporters who have been harshly critical of his authoritarian political system -- leaving them wondering whether they should accept the awards at all. More  Lawlessness Reigns In Tajik-Afghan Border Region Tajikistan's Shuroobod district has a reputation as a place where people, and even their livestock, go missing, and the sound of gunfire exchanged between border guards and drug smugglers is routine. More  Istanbul Conference Pledges Support For Afghanistan At a one-day conference on Afghanistan in Istanbul, regional and Western powers pledged support for the country's sovereignty and stability. More  U.S. Jury Convicts Russian Arms Dealer Bout A federal jury in New York City reached the verdict on November 2 against Viktor Bout, once known as the "Merchant of Death." More  Russia, China Firms 'Big Bribers' In a new report, the anticorruption group Transparency International (TI) says bribing public officials when doing business abroad is a regular occurrence.More  Armenian Parliament Speaker Resigns Armenian parliament speaker Hovik Abrahamian has announced his resignation to work as a campaign manager for the ruling party in next year's elections. More  Russian Nationalist 'Warned' By Police The leader of the ultranationalist "Russians" movement says Moscow police have "warned" him on the eve of the so-called "Russian March" on November 4. More  Kazakh Officials Detain Suspect In Oil Worker's Killing Police in western Kazakhstan say they have arrested a suspect in the killing of a striking oil worker. More  Kyrgyz Embassy In Russia Concerned Over Russian Citizenship Scams The Kyrgyz Embassy in Moscow has expressed concern over the increasing number of schemes that swindle Kyrgyz nationals seeking Russian citizenship.More  Ukraine Sets Three-Car Quota For Uzbek Cars In Trade War The Ukrainian authorities have limited Uzbekistan to exporting only three new cars to Ukraine per year in response to high import taxes on Ukrainian-made vehicles. More  Jailed Belarus Activists 'In Danger' The wives and fiancee of three jailed Belarusian opposition politicians say their lives are at risk. More  Kazakh Judge Dismissed For Alleged Links To Extremists Exonerated A judge in northwestern Kazakhstan who was dismissed in September for his reported connection with extremist organizations has been exonerated by a military court. More  Smallish Southern Protests Seek Annulment Of Kyrgyz Presidential Vote The turnout at the demonstrations appeared to suggest there was not widespread anger over the result of the October 30 vote, which was the first since bloody protests a year and a half ago chased President Kurmanbek Bakiev from power and into Belarusian exile. More  Russian Diplomat Criticized For Speech At Serbian Opposition Rally The Serbian ruling party has criticized a speech by the Russian ambassador to Belgrade at a nationalist party rally as meddling by Moscow in Serbia's internal affairs. More  Saudis Deport Iranian Hajj Pilgrims The Iranian Foreign Ministry has confirmed that Saudi Arabia has deported 150 Iranian hajj pilgrims who were charged with entering the country with forged visas. More  Trial Starts Of Belarus Activist Byalyatski Ales Byalyatski, head of the Vyasna (Spring) human rights center, was arrested on August 4 and later charged with tax evasion in a case that drew international condemnation. More  Golden Turkmenbashi Finds New Home It's been a tastelessly iconic symbol of Turkmenistan since it appeared in 1998: a 12-meter-tall, gold-plated statue of Saparmurat Niyazov, the country's longtime dictator, who also styled himself as "Turkmenbashi," or father of the Turkmen.More  The Kremlin's Frankenstein Monster The jitters the authorities are currently experiencing about the Russian March illustrate the degree to which the Kremlin is becoming spooked by the nationalist monster it helped nurture. More  Atambaev Wants To Close U.S. Air Base, But Can He? Kyrgyz President-elect Almazbek Atambaev has made headlines by announcing that the U.S. air base outside Bishkek – currently known as Manas Transit Center -- should be shut down by 2014. More  South Ossetia Election Plot Thickens It is becoming increasingly difficult to say whether the presidential election campaign in Georgia's breakaway Republic of South Ossetia is a geopolitical thriller, a soap opera with a cast dominated by former wrestling champions, a farce -- or a combination of all three. More |
