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Levi Bridges

Workers in western Uzbekistan haul large bundles of cotton to a nearby truck.

‘Justice doesn’t exist here’: Uzbek farmers and cotton workers say abuse, exploitation continues despite reforms

Business, Economics and Jobs

For decades, the cotton industry in Uzbekistan was plagued with labor abuses, including the rampant use of child labor. Practices have improved dramatically in recent years, but some advocates are concerned that the exploitation of adults is still happening.

event gathering

In Kyrgyzstan, a fight to keep alive the memory of a century-old rebellion against Russia

Ukraine
Cars queuing to cross the border into Kazakhstan at the Mariinsky border crossing, about (250 miles south of Chelyabinsk, Russia, Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022.

Anti-war Russians who fled for safety now face deportation

Ukraine
Armenian skyline with buildings and mountains

More Armenians in California are moving back to their parents’ native land

Culture
Students sit at the 2023 graduation ceremony inside the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. 

Afghan students in Central Asia set their sights on the US

Afghanistan
For more than a century, water from mineral springs in the Georgian town of Borjomi has been bottled and sold throughout the former Soviet Union. To this day, Borjomi remains a well-known brand from Kyiv to Kazakhstan.

Georgia’s famous Borjomi water company takes a hit during Russia-Ukraine war

Ukraine

Georgia’s beloved Borjomi mineral water can be found anywhere from Kyiv to Kazakhstan. But Russia’s war in Ukraine has hurt the company’s bottom line.

Zhemal Gamakharia, Chairman of Abkhazia’s Supreme Council, a regional-level parliament.

Georgian politicians from Russian-occupied Abkhazia run a ‘government-in-exile’

Leaders

Many people living in Georgia  who fled Abkhazia in 1993 now say they are dissatisfied with the politicians in charge of their needs.  

In this photo provided by The Federation Council of The Federal Assembly of The Russian Federation Press Service, lawmakers of Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation listen to the national anthem at a session in Moscow, Russi

In Russia, a novel about a summer romance between two men sparks outrage

LGBTQ

Novels about queer topics have been pulled from bookstores in Russia under a recent law that bans all mention of LGBTQ life in popular culture. It’s part of a regional crackdown against novelists and poets.

A Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drone is seen during a rehearsal of a military parade dedicated to Independence Day in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Aug. 20, 2021. 

This Turkish-made drone continues to cause tension in Armenia

Conflict

The Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drone has become an important part of modern warfare used in conflicts around the globe from Ukraine to Ethiopia. But many Armenians believe the drone is responsible for war crimes.

Colleagues gather at a cafeteria in the offices of Picsart, in Yerevan, Armenia.

Russia’s war turns Armenia into a booming tech sector

Ukraine

Thousands of Russian tech workers have fled to Armenia, helping the country’s tech sector double in size and fueling dramatic economic growth over the last year.