Many Kabulis, like 17-year-old Akhmad, are fluent in both languages. But the Taliban's insistence on Pashto, he says, left the language with a tarnished reputation: "I know Pashto very well -- not like many Taliban members, who didn't know it well but used it just to show that they were with the Taliban -- but I made a specific point of not using it at the time. I was only speaking Dari."
Syomin, a native of Russia who now lives in Brooklyn, NY, traveled extensively in the former Soviet Union. His photos concern mainly rural life, depicting conditions and traditions that are quickly disappearing. Many villages in remote areas are rapidly losing population, as young people, pushed by both boredom and economic necessity, move to towns and cities.
Rahmonov laid the groundwork for the clampdown during a July speech, in which he said three suspected terrorists held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay naval base hailed from the area. Rahmonov went on to express concern about possible radical-motivated civil strife in northern Soghd Province.
During the early years of Uzbek independence, official policy emphasized the renewal of ancient national traditions over the exploration of the recent past.
NPR founder Bill Siemering and reporter Corey Flintoff have spent months in Mongolia helping local journalists develop an audience for hard news. Siemering, who co-founded NPR in 1970, has spent 17 years supporting independent radio projects in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Kosovo, the Ukraine and Mongolia.
Social and political instability in these countries has marred business development, though, and corrupt business practices have muted foreign companies' interest in the region. As these photos show, the Soviet Union established an infrastructure for oil and gas extraction on the Caspian that remains intact.
Officials began meeting with representatives of Nardaran, about 20 miles northwest of Baku, on August 5. In addition to improvements in the social infrastructure, including reliable supplies of electricity, the villagers have demanded that the government release those detained in connection with violent clashes in June. That confrontation left one village resident dead and dozens injured.
