Eurasianet

As the president celebrates, the economic crisis deepened by a coronavirus outbreak he has refused to acknowledge has left his people in a state of Dickensian misery.

Electricity exports; crowd control outside food shops; and despite denials, COVID strikes. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

In the early days of the pandemic, Georgia enjoyed one of the most enviable rates in the world. Things began to fall apart in late summer.

Only the best medicine for the leader. For everyone else, bread shortages.

Ecological conservation is a matter of pride in Turkmenistan. But a disconnect between rhetoric and reality is a hallmark of the Berdymukhamedov era.

The dictatorial regime is mostly deaf to people’s complaints, but it sometimes caves.

The president’s fury has only served to expose once more the implausibility of official data.

With their borders still largely closed, Georgians hit the beach and let their guard down. The epidemiological result was inevitable.

For all the bombastic propaganda, there is no papering over the fact that Turkmenistan is still clearly struggling with a COVID-19 problem.

Constitutional shenanigans, food shortages and evacuations: Our weekly Turkmenistan bulletin.

Crowds are flocking to visit a new botanical wonderland that stands as testimony to the sway the billionaire chairman of the country’s ruling party holds over the nation.

Independent Ukraine has held only one census, almost 20 years ago.

With boasts of prosperity looking threadbare, more emphasis is being placed on the ineffable and much cheaper consolations of spirituality.

With hospitals full, things are taking a firmly Darwinian turn.

Turkmenistan is finally going into lockdown – without admitting it has any cases of coronavirus.