A new park designed for the exclusive use of women has officially opened in Tehran. Some say the park allows women to exercise freely, while others criticize "Mothers' Paradise" as yet another example of Iran's efforts to violate the human rights of its women.
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Georgia
Moscow has detained a Georgian-born Russian citizen on charges of spying for Tbilisi, in a case reminiscent of Georgia's expulsion of four Russians in 2006. Amid the mounting crisis over Abkhazia, the incident could prove explosive.
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Kazakhstan
Rakhat Aliev, the exiled former son-in-law of President Nursultan Nazarbaev, says he's ready to give evidence in a U.S. probe into whether Nazarbaev took bribes from U.S. businesses to receive lucrative oil contracts.
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Russia
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin will be responsible for industry, energy, and natural resources. His appointment is perhaps the clearest signal that the second age of Vladimir Putin will be an intensely amplified version of the first.
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Commentary
The meeting in Moscow this weekend of Russia's opposition National Assembly -- if the authorities allow it -- seems either hopelessly quixotic or comically pathetic.
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