Khurmat Babadjanov is a correspondent for RFE/RL's Uzbek Service.
A prominent Tashkent imam has called on Uzbek parents not to allow their sons to study obstetrics, saying male doctors in the field were an "embarrassment." The imam later claimed, however, that he was misunderstood.
Interest in Chinese language and culture is booming in Uzbekistan, where students see a world of opportunity in the strengthening of traditional ties between Beijing and Tashkent. RFE/RL correspondents Farangis Najibullah and Khurmat Babajanov report.
Hapless refugees from a "massacre" in one of the poorest and most volatile pockets of Central Asia work hard to build new lives abroad while hanging on to their old ones in Uzbekistan.
