Kyrgyzstan looks set to open its airspace to foreign airlines in a bid to reduce fares and lure tourists to the landlocked nation, but critics say that international competition could be a death sentence for local airlines.
As the Kyrgyz government prepares to renegotiate its stake in the Kumtor gold mine, local analysts warn that opposition politicians are using the country's biggest financial asset as a pawn in partisan rivalries.
Bombings and shootings around Iraq killed 22 people and wounded more than 50 on Thursday, authorities said, as a spike in violence made June Iraq's bloodiest month in almost a half a year.
Wedding ceremonies in the mountainous Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan traditionally are accompanied by folk songs and, increasingly, Russian pop music — but these days, revelers might be treated to the once-forbidden sounds of live jazz.
The stories are as diverse as the artists themselves: Afghan women who have lifted themselves out of poverty through a cooperative that sells their traditional embroidery; a former cook for the Sudan People's Liberation Army who now sells beaded corsets to help support her family and send her many grandchildren to school; and sisters from Kyrgyzstan who make hand-stitched felt and silk scarves using a family tradition that dates back some 300 years.
Wedding ceremonies in the mountainous Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan traditionally are accompanied by folk songs and, increasingly, Russian pop music — but these days revelers might be treated to the once-forbidden sounds of a live jazz band.
Kyrgyzstan's online forums have buzzed with angry discussions about Economics Minister Akylbek Japarov since he told parliament in April that $100 is enough to live on for a month.
Uzbekistan's announcement that it will privatize key state-owned assets has evoked skepticism about the former Soviet republic's commitment to economic reform.
Uzbekistan's announcement that it will privatize key state-owned assets has evoked skepticism about the former Soviet republic's commitment to economic reform.
