Uzbekistan
US and Israeli Companies Are Selling Surveillance Technology to Repressive Regimes, Report Finds
Western technology is being used by authoritarian Central Asian governments accused of widespread human rights abuses, suppression of free speech and monitoring of dissidents, Privacy International says.
How Countries Across the Globe Are Tampering with Women's Wombs
India made headlines last week for its misguided sterilization program, but it's far from the only place where a woman's ability to conceive children is interfered with by the state.
In Uzbekistan, A Bowl of Greasy Rice Will Make or Break Your Marriage
Most people who visit Uzbekistan head to Samarkand and Bukhara, but the spot for real-deal Uzbek cuisine is Tashkent. There, I found horse meat pasta salad and copious amounts of plov, a delicious dish of rice and meat that's said to seal the fate of...
I Took a Trip Down Tajikistan's 'Heroin Highway'
The proliferation of flashy cars in one of the poorest countries in the world has led to a new local saying: “It is no longer ‘How much did it cost?’ but ‘How many kilos did it cost?’" A study released in 2007 estimated that drug money added up to 3...
Russia Is Weaponizing Jedi Mind Tricks
Several former Soviet republics are instituting bizarre national safeguards to counter Russia's new brand of mind-fucking warfare.
The Toxic Uzbek Town and Its Museum of Banned Soviet Art
Ukrainian-born art collector Igor Savitsky collected thousands of avant-garde artworks banned in the Soviet Union under Stalin and founded the State Art Museum of the Republic of Karakalpakstan in the mid 1960s. Today the museum houses works from a...
Uzbekistan's Plan to Genetically Groom Olympic Athletes Isn't Going to Work
Measures of athleticism are still much better tested on the field, not in the lab.
Fish Are Finally Returning to the Shrunken Aral Sea
Magzhan Tursinbayev, an ecologist, stepped out of the 4x4 and pointed toward the horizon as he lit his cigarette. “Everywhere here was once the sea. Now look what is left: nothing,” he said, as he pointed to the vast expanse of empty space in front of...
The Most Hated Woman in Uzbekistan Can Do Anything
Gulnara Karimova is a screenplay writer, a University professor, a fashion designer, a telecom magnate, and crucially, daughter of the first, current and only president of Uzbekistan. She's also the most hated person in the country.
What the Next Water War Will Look Like
It seems to be everywhere, ceaseless, benign. But since ancient times, water has also been a coveted resource, one that can lead to famine and spark wars. “Whisky is for drinking; water is for fighting over,” Mark Twain wrote. Long before the Bible...
Is Central Asia on the Verge of a Water War?
A new kind of conflict is rising in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.