Humanitarian agencies working in Afghanistan have been saying it for years. Now the United Nations is also admitting it: Humanitarian aid workers are facing increasing risks in many conflict zones where assistance is most needed and not much is being done to protect them.
Turkmenistan’s dismal human rights record will soon be the subject of a review by the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT). Watchdog groups rank Turkmenistan’s government as one of the world’s most repressive, and non-governmental organization activists say Turkmen leaders show little interest in reforming.
After the European Union decided to move to a more cooperative approach with Turkmenistan when extending its interim trade agreement last year, and after the U.S. decided to increase cooperation with the annual bilateral consultations (ABCs), the multilateral organizations deepened their already-soft approach.
The South Pacific island of Nauru, the world’s smallest republic, sided with Russia in Moscow’s row with Tbilisi over the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Now it looks like Georgia has a proxy of its own in the South Pacific.
Uzbekistan celebrated the 19th anniversary of its independence on September 1 with a flourish of patriotic slogans, warnings to be vigilant about external enemies, streets closed to traffic, and orders to dissidents not to go outside. President Islam Karimov announced that the average income was now $500 a month, and the state-run press carried stories about increases in pay.
Uzbekistan is chairing a meeting of the five Central Asian nations with Japan, the state news site gazeta.ru reported. This is the first such meeting of Central Asian foreign ministers with Japan's foreign minister since 2004. The meeting's agenda includes discussions on regional security and advancement of various economic programs.
