Diplomatic cables made available by WikiLeaks reveal interesting details about who stood behind the creation of Tajikistan's major companies. In his blog, journalist Zafar Abdullayev analyzes [ru] documents that suggest the formation of one of Tajikistan's largest cell phone operators was financed by drug money. Another major cell phone company was funded by a current minister of agriculture.
Through twitter, Al Jazeera shares the video story of a group of Afghan women who are using poetry as a way to empower themselves and reclaim their voice.
Unzipped: Gay Armenia comments on the continuing controversy surrounding Artsvik Minasyan, an MP from the nationalist Armenian Revolutionary Federation–Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D). The blog says that in addition to bailing out a Neo-Nazi arsonist in police custody, Minasyan continues to make homophobic statements in the media following the 8 May firebombing of a gay-friendly bar in the Armenian capital by labeling homosexuality a threat to the country's national security. Elected under the proportional system in Armenia, and thus lacking a specific mandate in the majoritarian system, Unzipped: Gay Armenia calls on the ARF-D to remove Minasyan from their ranks immediately.
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