Mullorajab Yusufi is a correspondent in RFE/RL's Tajik Service.
A family in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, has died while trying to warm their frigid home with a coal stove, highlighting the dangers posed by chronic power cuts in the Central Asian nation.
Tajikistan has reduced the number of jobs which it forbids women from doing. The new list still includes 194 professions and types of work that women cannot do, down from the previous 334.
A prosecutor has asked a court in Dushanbe to convict and sentence Tajik blogger Abdusattor Pirmuhammadzoda to seven years in prison on extremism charges that he and his supporters reject.
A noted Tajik blogger Daleri Imomali, who is known for writing articles that have been critical of the government, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges human rights organizations call unfounded.
Tajikistan is forcibly deporting Afghan refugees despite calls by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to halt the expulsions and to protect Afghan nationals fleeing conflict and persecution.
A new survey shows Tajiks watch less Russian TV than they did three years ago. Respondents said they have increased interest in Persian and Uzbek entertainment channels, though Russian news programs still play a major role in shaping public opinion.
The Taliban has said that it has no plans to destabilize Afghanistan’s neighbors. However, the Taliban has put Tajik militant group Jamaat Ansarullah in charge of security in several districts it captured near the Tajik border.
High demand for real estate in a sought-after Dushanbe suburb has led to corruption in the distribution of land parcels by the local government. An RFE/RL Tajik Service investigation shows the governor appointed to end the culture of corruption has instead expanded it.
