Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a December 22 statement urged Kyrgyz authorities to drop all charges against activist Aftandil Jorobekov and release him after he was arrested for openly protesting changes to Kyrgyzstan's national flag and charged with calls for mass disorder and civil disobedience.
More than 500 oil workers in Kazakhstan’s western region of Manghystau are continuing a strike launched almost two weeks ago despite two of their colleagues falling ill on December 21 with blood pressure problems.
There is snow billowing around the heart of Prague and the skies are dark and threatening. But a small crowd of people are simply standing, and staring.
The White House said on December 21 it is "very concerned" about reports that Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine convicted of espionage in Russia, feels physically threatened.
A gunman killed 14 people and wounded dozens of others at a university in downtown Prague, Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan and police chief Martin Vondrasek told reporters on December 21, describing the event as a “profound” tragedy that “will have many consequences.”