RFE/RL Central Asia Report
06.08.2012
A review of RFE/RL reporting and analysis about the five countries of Central Asia.
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Kazakhstan Jails 8 On Terror Charges
A court in Kazakhstan's western city of Oral has sentenced eight local men for organizing and participating in a terrorist organization. More A website associated with the Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) announced on August 4 that its leader Osman Adil was killed in a drone attack in Pakistan. More In a country criticized for its mistreatment of inmates, one Uzbek prison stands alone as a "House of Torture." More As Uzbek students struggle to beat the odds and pass by winning a college place in university entrance exams, the website Gazeta.uz published some glossy close-up photos of some exam candidates who were caught redhanded using various wheezes (such as taping mobile phones to their arms) in order to get the best exam results. More Uzbekistan's prosecutor-general is pulling out all the stops in its case against what was the country's leading mobile provider. More Dozens of protesters have picketed the Kyrgyz Prosecutor-General's office in Bishkek, demanding the release of a Kazakh human rights activist from a detention center. More Ukraine has won gold in the women's quadruple sculls rowing race with a convincing victory that was more than two seconds faster than the nearest competitors. More On August 1, more than 400,000 young Uzbeks will file into classrooms for nationwide university entrance exams. But with applications outnumbering university spots 8-to-1, many ambitious students are setting aside their books and reaching into their pockets -- offering thousands of dollars to organized cheating rings who have perfected the art of delivering perfect scores. More A drought of historic proportions is wreaking havoc on crops across the majority of the United States, but American farmers aren't the only ones who are concerned. The destructive dry spell is helping send food prices up well beyond U.S. borders and could trigger a major global problem. More |