As increasing numbers of girls miss out on school in Turkmenistan, the declining levels are being blamed both on the economic factor, where parents lack money to provide their daughters with an education, and social changes as families prefer girls to hav
The authorities dismiss women who join Hizb-ut-Tahrir as mere puppets of the men in the banned group, but still insist they must be locked up for years on end.
The president looks for foreign spies, while his own country is under total surveillance.
Education reforms instituted by Turkmen president Saparmurat Niazov are preventing thousands of school leavers from going on to higher education. The selection of new entrants to colleges and universities will shortly get under way, and education official
In recent years, Turkmenistan’s army has seen an increasing number of deaths caused by brutal treatment meted out by soldiers on their fellow-conscripts.
Scenes of distress as elderly people are told they will now get a much-reduced pension or nothing at all.
Plans for new restrictions on Islamic groups following killings of police and soldiers in the south.
Expulsion of US diplomats seen as a shift towards Moscow and away from democracy.
The Uzbek authorities are using run-of-the-mill criminal charges to silence their critics.
Textile industry chief sacked the day after workers took to the streets over unpaid wages.
