RFE/RL journalist Mania Mansour says Valentine's Day has grown in importance in Iran, mainly among middle-class youths. Mania says there is a thriving Valentine's Day industry in Iran and that it is not unusual for more affluent Iranians to splurge on lavish gifts, which can range from name-brand goods to automobiles. -Eugen Tomiuc

Once again, interethnic strife in southern Kyrgyzstan is testing a new government in far-away Bishkek. This time the friction comes between ethnic Kyrgyz and minority Tajiks in remote Batken Province, whose eponymous capital has seen at least two days of street protests. The demonstrators have come out in defense of the local governor, dismissed February 1, reportedly for failing to quell the ...

More than 1,000 prisoners in Kyrgyzstan have sewn their lips together, a grotesque act inmates describe as a protest of their dismal conditions, but which authorities blame on organized criminal gangs who resent attempts to break the power they wield in prisons.

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan - More than 1,000 prisoners in Kyrgyzstan have sewn their lips together, a grotesque act inmates describe as a protest of their dismal conditions, but which authorities blame on organized criminal gangs who resent attempts to break the power they wield in prisons.

Parked outside Kyrgyzstan’s parliament, the fleet of Lexus SUVs is an impressive sight for such a poor country. Now, a new online number-crunching project has estimated that each of these luxury cars driven by MPs would cost its owner six to seven years’ pay, barring any other living expenses, like food, rent or utilities. For an average Bishkek resident living under the same ascetic conditions ...

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — More than 1,000 prisoners in Kyrgyzstan have sewn their lips together, a grotesque act inmates describe as a protest over their dismal conditions, but which authorities blame on organized criminal gangs who resent attempts to break the power they wield in prisons.

Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, or ADFD, has signed an agreement to provide Dh55 million as a concessionary loan to Kirgizstan’s government.

BISHKEK - Uzbek President Islam Karimov this month hailed the achievements of the Uzbek economic model, which is basically a retrofitted command system. But Karimov clearly hasn't gotten out of the capital much lately.

On May 3, 2011, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry or the Kyrgyzstan Inquiry Commission (KIC) released its final report on the interethnic violence and clashes between the country’s ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek communities last year. The KIC was formed based on an initiative from the Nordic countries ...

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AP) - More than 1,000 prisoners in Kyrgyzstan have sewn their lips together, a grotesque act inmates describe as a protest of their dismal conditions, but which authorities blame on organized criminal gangs who resent attempts to break the power they wield in prisons.