2013 World Press Freedom Index: Dashed hopes after spring

Reporters without borders - 2013 World Press Freedom Index: Dashed hopes after spring - After the “Arab springs” and other protest movements that prompted many rises and falls in last year’s index, the 2013 Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index marks a return to a more usual configuration. The ranking of most countries is no longer attributable to dramatic political developments. This year’s index is a better reflection of the attitudes and intentions of governments towards media freedom in the medium or long term.

The New York Times - As NATO Prepares for Afghan Withdrawal, Uzbekistan Seeks War’s Leftovers - With planning for the Western military withdrawal from Afghanistan in full swing, officials in Uzbekistan want to make a deal: we will provide the roads out if you leave some of those extra vehicles and supplies behind for us.

The New York Times - Russia Revives the Namesake of ‘Uncle Joe’ - No, there are no plans to revive the gulag. But the city government of Volgograd voted unanimously on Thursday to officially restore its onetime Communist-era name, Stalingrad, for six days each year.

dailypioneer.com - He came, he saw, and he did not conquer - Experts believe that Turkish organisations like the $25 billion Gulen movement, reportedly financed by the CIA, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, have been establishing madarssas and mosques across Central Asia, including Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, for over a decade.