The appearance of the self-defense units is the second time this year that civil society has been forced to hold the line. Where the state repeatedly fails to live up to its obligations, volunteers step in.
Kazakhstan’s food producers look primed to benefit from China’s increasingly tense relationship with traditional trading partners. This and more in our monthly Chinese business briefing.
The Georgian government’s strict, successful early response earned it political dividends. But with a new outbreak, that success is coming under question.
Tofig Yagublu was detained shortly after the president warned that the opposition was using the coronavirus to destabilize Azerbaijan. Now even pro-government MPs are calling for his release.
Since independence, votes in Kyrgyzstan have been contested more toughly than those in its Central Asian neighbors. But competitive does not always mean clean.