The upheavals of 1989 that led to the collapse of eastern Europe’s communist governments would prove to be precursors of the USSR’s own collapse, but, at the time, this was far from clear. To find out firsthand how then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev interpreted the destruction of the Berlin Wall and Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution, Current Time spoke with Andrei Grachev, Gorbachev’s press secretary from August – December 1991.
China is one of the main creditors for all of Central Asia’s countries. How much do these countries owe to China and are they completely equal partners? Current Time Asia’s Zhazgul Egemberdiyeva explains.
In Turkmenistan, a witness filmed city workers throwing dogs into a garbage truck. In Kyrgyzstan, gunmen were seen shooting strays in broad daylight near a playground. Across Central Asia, animal rights activists are pushing for laws banning cruelty to animals -- and they're making progress.
Hundreds were detained as three raids in two days targeted migrant workers from Central Asia in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Yekaterinburg.
In a remote desert near the border between Kazakhstan and China, a massive dry port has been built to develop overland routes for Chinese exports to markets in Europe, Russia, and Central Asia.
