DUSHANBE, 31 Mar 2005 (IRIN) - Mirzo Saidov (not his real name), a 32-year-old labour migrant from Tajikistan, worked on a construction site in Moscow like many of his fellow countrymen and used to earn good money by Tajik standards.Full report

DUSHANBE, 23 Mar 2005 (IRIN) - Opposition leaders in Tajikistan say they support the people's protests in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, but condemn acts of violence.Full report

ALMATY, 14 Mar 2005 (IRIN) - While thousands of Tajik labourers migrate to Russia for work each year, Kazakhstan provides a second and closer alternative, enjoying the highest level of economic growth in the region.Full report

KAIRAKKUM, 2 Mar 2005 (IRIN) - Latofat (not her real name) lives in the northern Tajik city of Kairakkum, some 370 km north of the capital, Dushanbe. The 21-year-old woman is one of more than 100 people who are known to have contracted HIV in northern Tajikistan in the past three years.Full report

DUSHANBE, 28 Feb 2005 (IRIN) - The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has criticised Sunday's parliamentary elections in Tajikistan, saying they fell short of international standards.Full report

DUSHANBE, 25 Feb 2005 (IRIN) - Returning from the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, where she had lived for eight years, Safargul Davlatova had expected to find the home she used to live in before the civil war in Bokhtar district, in the southern Khatlon region, destroyed. She had prepared to be confronted with a burnt out shell that would need lots of work to make it habitable again, but at least it would be hers. Full report

DUSHANBE, 24 Feb 2005 (IRIN) - Khabibullo Sharipov is the director of rural school number 47 in Shakhrinav district, 45 km north of the Tajik capital, Dushanbe. In addition to his work as a teacher, he is also an election commission chairman for this Sunday's parliamentarian elections.Full report

ANKARA, 16 Feb 2005 (IRIN) - The damage caused by a spate of avalanches that hit Tajikistan over the past two weeks is estimated to be around US $3 million, according to the Tajik emergency ministry.Full report

ANKARA, 15 Feb 2005 (IRIN) - Rights activists have welcomed the abolition of capital punishment in Tajikistan, the second country in the Central Asian region to abolish the death penalty for all crimes.Full report

TUYA-MOYUN, 9 Feb 2005 (IRIN) - Spring comes early in the Tuya-Moyun valley in southern Kyrgyzstan. Crops are already being sown by late February. With just a couple of weeks now until sowing starts, Ilyas Davlaev, a 38-year-old farmer from the Aravan district of the southern Osh province, is already concerned about this year's harvest. Full report

TAJIKISTAN: Returnees held up by property disputes

TAJIKISTAN: Interview with media activist

TAJIKISTAN: Focus on rural drinking water

TAJIKISTAN: Focus on demining efforts

TAJIKISTAN: Focus on keeping girls in school