Alisher Zarifi is a correspondent for RFE/RL's Tajik Service.
Tajik inmates Navruz Rustam and Nazirjon Toshov were among the four men named who killed four prison guards and took several people hostage at a prison in Russia last week, according to Russian officials. In Tajikistan, the men's relatives expressed shock and disappointment at the news.
The mother of a Moscow terror attack suspect says her son worried that he would get caught in a Russian police raid as his resident permit neared expiration. Dalerjon Mirzoev is one of four Tajik men accused of carrying out the attack on March 22. At least 144 people were killed in the attack.
A huge billboard showing Manizha, a well-known Russian singer with Tajik roots, in a national satin dress and a revealing neckline on Times Square in New York City has provoked a strong reaction on social networks.
Following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, the previous government's funding for a school for Afghans in Tajikistan's capital was cut off. A school official hopes wealthy Afghans can step in, but so far, parents of the students have had to help cover the costs to pay rent for the school.
