Greater Surbitondiscusses the recent EU-report by the Tagliavini Commission on the 2008 Russo-Georgian war, and argues that it - with few exceptions - mostly sides with the Georgians.
On Vox Populi, photographer Kanat Beysekeev presents an annotated photo report [ru] on wheat sowing and the everyday life of farmers in northern Kazakhstan. Much of the wheat flour consumed in Central Asia comes from this area.
Blog Avestiycawrites [ru] about health care facilities in Tajikistan, portraying the country's ill-planned and graft-ridden hospitals as “machines for sucking money” out of patients.
Tomyris explains why the authorities in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan have banned The Dictator, Sacha Baron Cohen's latest spoof blockbuster, and writes about Western media's reaction to the ban.
Blogger Gulnara Bazhkenova explains [ru] why MPs in Kazakhstan are rarely taken seriously by the general public. In her words, the country's rubber-stamp parliament is widely seen as a “weird, expensive and absolutely useless toy”.
Islamic authorities in Tajikistan are unanimous in condemning the use and sale of drugs, writes [tj] journalist Kayumars Ato in his blog. At the same time, some religious leaders argue that using drug money to finance the construction of mosques is okay.