Turkmen students banned from studying at universities abroad are being allowed by the government to resume their studies at the American University in Bulgaria (AUBG), RFE/RL's Turkmen Service reports.
Riaz lives in a small village on the outskirts of Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar. The middle-aged man, who goes by one name, remembers happier days a few years ago when driving his rickety taxi around Peshawar's crowded bazaars and lush green suburbs was fun -- despite the noise, dust, and smog.
Already, private companies are creating ambitious projects to generate income from Genghis' legacy. One company, GENCO Tours, built a 40-meter stainless steel statue about an hour's drive from Ulaanbaatar. It is a popular destination for Mongolians and foreign tourists.
Islamic female clothing has become as much a political statement as it is a religious statement in many countries, which is why Marjona has a fashion problem.
The 20-year-old Tajik, a devout Muslim and madrasah student, says she feels "increasingly passionate" about wearing hijab, the Islamic headscarf, "but you aren't allowed to wear the hijab in schools."
For eight years since the US-aided toppling of the Taliban, the residents of the Qala-i-Zal district of Konduz Province have relied on Afghan government forces for security.
Until recently, that seemed enough.
But beginning some 18 months ago, the Taliban began returning to this area of northern Afghanistan in force.
When representatives of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany, sit down with Iranian representatives in Turkey in October, they will do so with renewed violence and harsh rhetoric coming from Tehran fresh in their minds.
Criticism and anger are mounting over the rescue of a Western journalist from Taliban militants.
The September 9 predawn raid in a remote corner of northern Afghanistan rescued "New York Times" correspondent Stephen Farrell. But four people died in the shoot-out, including Farrell's Afghan colleague Sultan Munadi and a British commando.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has only had two supreme leaders in its 30-year history.
For the first 10 years, the Islamic Revolution's founder, Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khamenei, was the supreme leader and was unquestionably accepted as such by the ruling clerical establishment.
