Swine flu is keeping the Hajj out of reach for Central Asia's Muslims this year. (Photo by David Trilling)

Central Asia: Swine Flu Fears Helping to Keep Potential Hajj Pilgrims Home
BY ALISHER KHAMIDOV
Concerns about the spread of swine flu are creating an additional hurdle for Central Asian believers hoping to make the Hajj, or the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. Some believers in the region say that Central Asian governments do more to frustrate than facilitate the Hajj, which is a moral obligation for every Muslim to undertake at least once in his or her lifetime.

Azerbaijan: Judge Rules Youth Activists Can't Access Cell Phone Records
BY JESSICA POWLEY HAYDEN
The high-profile prosecution of two Azerbaijani youth activists and bloggers continued on November 6, marking the beginning of the third month of proceedings. In addition to testimony from the alleged victims, cell phone records from the investigatory file were introduced into evidence. Citing privacy concerns, the judge, however, refused to grant the defense access to the alleged victims’ records.

Tajikistan: Business Climate Improving, But Corruption Remains an Obstacle to Investment
BY DAVID TRILLING
Not so long ago, entrepreneurs opening businesses in Tajikistan would routinely complain of visits by government inspectors from myriad state agencies, each with a discerning eye for anything amiss and a voracious appetite for somoni, the local currency. An official would enter the premises and notice the fire extinguisher, for example, was fastened too high or too low on the wall. Another would say some document hadn’t been stamped in the right place. Unless the appropriate bribe was proffered, the business would be closed for an investigation, or registration withheld.

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Mongolia: Shamanism is Making a Comeback
BY JOSHUA KUCERA
When Degi, a 24-year-old web designer in Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar, hit a pedestrian in July 2008 with his Daewoo sedan, his luck took a turn for the worse. His company didn’t get a contract he was hoping for, and misfortune seemed to hover over his personal life. The family of the victim extorted money from him, threatening to sue and warning him that they had connections in the courts. So Degi, like many Mongolians, took his troubles to a shaman.

Playing the Slots: Georgia’s Hidden Addiction?
A EURASIANET PHOTO ESSAY BY PAUL RIMPLE AND SOPHIA MIZANTE
Amid a Tbilisi slot-parlor boom, experts believe that problem gambling is on the rise in Georgia. The gaming industry may be pouring millions each year into state coffers, but the social costs of gambling are going unmeasured.

Mongolia: Ethnic Kazakhs Eye Land of Opportunity to the West
BY JOANNA LILLIS
There was a festive mood in a village in Mongolia’s Khovd District recently as family and friends gathered to celebrate the birth of a baby into an ethnic Kazakh family. A new arrival is always cause for celebration in a Kazakh household, marked with a succession of events from the "cradle party" soon after the birth to the "string cutting" ceremony to snip a symbolic string when the child starts walking.

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The Music of China's Nomads
See and hear how Kazakhs and Kyrgyz living in China's western Xinjiang Province are using music to preserve their cultural heritage.

Turkey: Ankara Pressing Ahead with Diplomatic Make-Over
BY YIGAL SCHLEIFER
Autumn has been a busy -- if not dizzying -- period for Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. Turkey is attempting a drastic diplomatic make-over, one that would transform Ankara into a regional power broker.

Tajikistan: Cotton Harvest Relies Heavily on Child Labor
When it comes to the use of child labor to help bring in Tajikistan’s cotton crop, the government’s heart may be in the right place. Officials in Dushanbe have tried to prohibit the practice. But practical circumstances in the impoverished Central Asian nation mean that children are still found out in the fields during the harvest season.

Eurasian Energy: Circumstances Pushing Iran and Pakistan to Link Up
A EURASIANET COMMENTARY BY STEPHEN BLANK
For most of 2009, a pipeline deal involving Iran, Pakistan and India, has been stalled. But recent indicators suggest that a new version of the pipeline could get moving again.

Afghanistan: Karzai Declared President, But Is Abdullah the Real Winner?
BY AUNOHITA MOJUMDAR
In Afghanistan, the loser of the presidential election may end up the winner, and the victor may be the one who reflects on the result as a severe political setback.

Georgia: Free-Speech Debate Swirls in Tbilisi over Patriarch Parody
BY MOLLY CORSO
The Georgian government is conducting an investigation into a series of video clips posted on Facebook that insult the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II. The clips are fueling a debate about the boundaries of freedom of expression in Georgia.

Turkmenistan: Is Berdymukhamedov Spinning a Web Fantasy?
In the hands of the Turkmen people, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov’s regime tends to view the Internet as a dangerous implement. Yet, kept under proper supervision, Berdymukhamedov evidently feels the web can make the Turkmen government more efficient.

Georgia: Luxury Hotel Goes Up on Stalin-Era Secret Prison Site
A EURASIANET PHOTO ESSAY BY MOLLY CORSO
Secret prison cells from the Stalin era have been discovered on a Tbilisi construction site for a $90-million luxury hotel for the international Kempinski Hotel chain. The cells, located in the city’s former Institute of Marxism and Leninism, are believed to be the first of their kind to be found in Georgia since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Azerbaijan: Baku Confronts Mass Media Paradox
Azerbaijan’s government earlier in 2009 took action to restrain the reach of foreign broadcasters, in particular radio outlets like the British Broadcasting Corp. and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Now, a key member of President Ilham Aliyev’s administration is calling on state-run outlets to improve the quality of their broadcasts. However, as they contemplate ways to attract eyeballs back to state broadcasts, Azerbaijani officials are facing a paradox: authoritarian political environments tend not to be incubators of mass media innovation.

Turkey: Kurdish Filmmakers Wrestle with the Future
BY KATYA KUMKOVA
For Kurds, a nation without a state, artistic expression in recent decades has tended to have a strong political flavor. Now, however, some Kurdish filmmakers are attempting to break out of the old mold.