Page 6 - Chris Rickleton News Today

Kazakhstan faced a potential crisis once again, as police detained dozens of unemployed oil workers from the restive town of Zhanaozen who had taken their protests to the capital. Despite talk of a newly revamped parliament, Kazakhstan's Mazhilis appears to be just as impotent as ever. 

Uzbek dissident artist Vyacheslav Akhunov faced censorship under the Soviet Union and Uzbekistan’s first president, Islam Karimov. Now he believes Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is behind an official decision to bar his painting from being shown in the state art museum in Tashkent.

With parliamentary elections on March 19, Kazakhstan's first political cycle in the aftermath of unrest that left at least 238 people dead last year is ending. But has there been enough change to prevent future social explosions?

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov’s public appearance with a Chinese-born businessman at the heart of a media investigation into contraband in Kyrgyzstan has raised questions about the government’s commitment to combating corruption.

Plus: Lukashenka's trip to Beijing, China and Russia join hands on disinformation, China's strategy to silence former Xinjiang camp detainees, and more.

Plus: Lukashenka's trip to Beijing, China and Russia join hands on disinformation, China's strategy to silence former Xinjiang camp detainees, and more.

Serdar Berdymukhammedov's move to the Turkmen president's office last year has coincided with a more difficult life for women, who have had even more restrictions imposed on them. Recent government actions portrayed as helping women have been dismissed as mere window-dressing.

Many Kyrgyz don't like the idea of leaders whose reigns oversaw systemic corruption and the bloody suppression of protests having being forgiven for their transgressions.

Official trade statistics for Kyrgyzstan highlight some unusual trends in 2022, the year Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered unprecedented sanctions against Moscow.

Tengiz Bolturuk took charge of Kyrgyzstan’s Kumtor Gold mine after authorities seized it from Canadian company Centerra Gold. Now he is fighting to stay out of jail following a fall from grace that has done little to boost confidence in national management of the country’s largest asset.