KHORUGH, Tajikistan -- Officers from Tajikistan's antidrug agency descend upon a village in a remote southeastern province, confiscate 15 kilograms of hashish and a kilo of heroin, detain a drug smuggler -- and let him go.
On March 25, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went before a congressional committee to request additional funding for the State Department's operations in Afghanistan.
"The military offensive rightly may get the headlines, but what happens behind the scenes is equally important," Clinton said. "As our military leaders put it, after clearing, we must hold, build, and transition."
Mohammad Parwaiz lost the vision in his right eye and most in his left when a mine he was deactivating exploded in his face. He received $8,000 in compensation from his employer, a European demining outfit. But all that money went to medical treatment and the accident left him unemployable, until he was offered a unique position.
Mohammad Parwaiz lost the vision in his right eye and most in his left when a mine he was deactivating exploded in his face. He received $8,000 in compensation from his employer, a European demining outfit. But all that money went to medical treatment and the accident left him unemployable, until he was offered a unique position.
Their presence runs the gamut of sports. Australian coach Tim Lane led the Georgian national rugby team to victory over Russia in March for the top spot in the European Nations Cup; two Brazilian beach volleyball players delivered a fourth-place finish in the 2008 Summer Olympics.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon began his first official Central Asian tour in Ashgabat on April 1. He is expected to focus on improving regional cooperation, disarmament, and environmental issues.
Yet advocacy groups fear Ban will miss an opportunity to address the region's dismal human rights record.
This article was amended on April 2, 2010 to correct the first name of the deputy chairperson of the Commitee on Foreign Relations and the date of Babushera airport's closure.
A feud between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan threatens to inflict serious damage to the already troubled Tajik economy, as well as cause disruptions to an important supply route used by US and NATO troops in Afghanistan.
It might be a case of better late than never. Georgia is due to receive its first batch of Swine Flu vaccine, just as the influenza season is drawing to a close.
MARY PROVINCE, Turkmenistan -- For Bagul, a 35-year-old mother of three struggling to make ends meet in one of Turkmenistan's most fertile regions, farming means survival.
