Russia: Prince Harry and Local “Elite's Offspring”

Window on Eurasia writes about the Russians’ reaction to the news of Prince Harry's military service in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan: Refugees Urge BBC to Take Action

Mohammad posts an open letter of independent writers, journalists, student associations, human rights activists and Afghanistani Diaspora living in the UK to the head of BBC, raising concerns about the recent restrictions introduced by the Afghani Minister of Culture on the use of Farsi language terminology by media in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan: Imagine art after

Sanjar tells about “Imagine art after” project, uniting artists who originate from the same country but who are now geographically and politically separated. At the exhibition, shown earlier this year at the Tate Gallery in London, two Aghanistani artists were paired together – Rahraw Amarzad (living in Kabul) and Shapur...

Afganistan: Story Behind Pictures

Mohammad posts a number of pictures of Afghanistan's children in “schools” in remote areas, and says that the current authorities spend billions of western aids on luxurious houses, top model cars and jewelry instead of improving humanitarian situation.

Afghanistan: Local Charity Aids Needy People

Mohammad reports that Ahmad Shah Massoud Foundation distributes winter aid for hundreds returning refugee families in the north and south of the Afghanistani capital, Kabul. Ahmad Shah Massoud had been a Defense Minister before he was killed in a suicide attack in 2001.

Afghanistan: The two Kandahar bombings

Peter Marton analyzes the two recent bloody bombings in Kandahar, an uneasy province of Afghanistan, both of them with a lot of random killing.

Afghanistan: London's Afghans Rally for Freedom of Expression

Mohammad says that Afghanistanis, the citizens of U.K., have demonstrated to condemn reprisals against those who are speaking Persian language. The protesters marched in front of the Afghan Embassy in London last Friday.

Afghanistan: Journalists fined for language debate

Sanjar reports that three Afghanistani journalists working for government-owned media have been fined for using Persian words that are not approved by cultural policy.

Afghanistan: Ambassador Abducted?

Manan Ahmed says that Tariq Azizuddin, the Pakistani ambassador to Afghanistan, has gone missing, presumably kidnapped by the Taliban, although the latters have already issued denials.

Blogging for a freer Afghanistan

Afghanistan: Illegal to Speak Farsi in a Farsi Spoken City

Mohammad writes that the Minister of Culture and Youth affairs, fired a reporter and sued two other staff from Balkh TV for using pure Persian words while broadcasting the news.

Afghanistan: Deadly Weather Conditions

Mohammad reports that according to the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authorities, blizzards and freezing weather across the whole of Afghanistan have killed over 600 people since the start of the year.

Afghanistan: Feedback on Counter-Narcotics Report

Barnett R. Rubin reviews feedback comments on the report, in which he was involved as a co-author, on “Counter-narcotics to Stabilize Afghanistan: The False Promise of Crop Eradication”.

Afghanistan: Film banned by the authorities

Sanjar reports that the Ministry of information and culture of Afghanistan has banned the import and exhibition of “The Kite Runner” movie on the fear of social consequences. The film is based on the novel by Khalid Husseini about the troubled friendship of two Afghan boys and “tells us a...

Afghanistan: Journalist Missing Found Safe

Nasim Fekratْ reports that Basir Ahang, a freelance correspondent for a Afghanistan's local Radio “Farda”, the “Namah” weekly and the La Repubblica, who was missing for some time, has been found safe abroad.

Afghanistan: Eradicating opium through development

Bipasha Ray reports that the UN Office on Drugs and Crime issued its annual winter survey of poppy planting patterns and predicted a poppy harvest close to last year’s record, while a UK governmental development agency and the World Bank say that it will take at least 20 years and...

Afghanistan: ECFR's Afghanistan paper

Péter Marton analyzes a new paper out from the Europan Council on Foreign Relations calling for a major shift in terms of commitment to the ongoing efforts in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan: Wikiscanning Afghanistan

Afghanistanica reviews Wikipedia's articles on Afghanistan and says that many Afghanistan-related articles on Wikipedia are problematic.

Afghanistan: The Hazara, In Pictures

Joshua Foust reviews a National Geographic's big special photo coverage on the Hazarajat, a big central mountainous region in Afghanistan, but notes that America’s broken promises continue to haunt the land.

Afghanistan: Balkh, The Poorest Province

Mohammad writes about Balkh, an economically underprivileged northern province of Afghanistan, which, on the other hand, has a very rich historical and cultural legacy, being listed among Educational, Scientific and Cultural human history heritage in the United Nations.

Afghanistan: On Uruzgan, tribes, corruption and all else

Péter Marton analyzes the presentation by Major General Ton van Loon of the Netherlands, former commander of ISAF RC-S, delivered at the U.S. Atlantic Council (ACUS), where he talked of many issues there that are important in the context of the insurgency in southern Afghanistan.