Written by Kevin Rothrock It’s not every day that the Russian President pens an opinion piece in the New York Times, but it happened yesterday, and the American blogosphere promptly lost its collective marbles, as tweeting journalists and surprised ordinary Internet users stumbled over each other to react. In the aftermath of local and regional […]
Tajikistan: President Warned After Fatal Car Crash
Written by Mahina Shodizoda There are not many netizens in Tajikistan that have remained silent about a recent car crash in Dushanbe involving a relative of President Emomali Rahmon. The incident has demonstrated once again that powerful and well-connected individuals are above the law in the country. But it has also shown that simple technological […]
Russia’s Illegal Immigrant Camps
Written by Nina Jobe At the end of July, Moscow oblast’s Acting Governor proposed [1] [ru] the establishment of a detention center for illegal immigrants on a former military base near Yegoryevsky. The cost of renovations to repurpose the property is estimated to be 200 million rubles (over $6 million). Not surprisingly, local residents were […]
Kyrgyz Media: Shocking Headlines Spill Gossip
Written by Shakhnoza Isakova In Kyrgyzstan, a small country of roughly five million people, rumors play a significant role in forming opinions and forecasting the future. Although Kyrgyzstan’s Russian language media is often viewed as being more objective, the editors of the Kyrgyz language press have formidable networks, giving them plenty of opportunity to spill […]
Russian Tourists Face Getting Stranded in Egypt
Written by Andrey Tselikov Over the past several days Russian newspapers [1][ru] have [2] [ru] reported [3] [ru], with growing worry, about the 50,000 Russian tourists who run the danger of being stranded in Egypt, if violence there does not abate. Egypt, along with Turkey, is a popular budget travel destination for Russians, who especially […]
Bulgaria: Massive Anti-Government Protests Ensue After New Leadership Appointments
The appointment of a controversial deputy from Bulgaria’s ethnic Turkish political party as the head of the country’s National Security Agency has set in motion a wave of massive protests throughout the country against the two-week-old government. More than 10,000 people gathered [1] in the capital city of Sofia on June 14, 2013 after Delyan […]