BISHKEK popularity and BISHKEK trends

The Eternal Flame in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, has flickered, faded and died after a utilities company cut off the gas to the World War Two memorial.

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AP) -- When is an "Eternal Flame" not eternal? In Kyrgyzstan, it's when you don't pay the gas bill....

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AP) -- Authorities in Kyrgyzstan began testing members of the new anti-corruption agency on live television Monday in a bid to display an unusual level of transparency in this corruption-riddled Central Asian nation....

BISHKEK - Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday warned visiting US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta that American forces could not use a strategic air base for any military mission after the current lease expires in 2014. The Manas air base at Bishkek airport serves as a crucial hub for the NATO-led force in Afghanistan and US officials are concerned about the future of Manas as they review plans for troop ...

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Tuesday emphasized the importance of an air base near the Kyrgyz capital to the U.S. military effort in Afghanistan, underscoring the Obama administration’s hope that the United States might be able to retain access to the facility through the end of the Afghan war. Read full article >>

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AP) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is meeting with Kyrgyzstan's leaders to stress that America needs the continued use of the U.S. air base there beyond the end of its contract in 2014, largely as a transit center to bring troops home from Afghanistan....

"We are breaking the law," says Madiev Tynchtyk, a member of local government in a small village outside of the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, "but here everyone understands this is a tradition and you can't change it." Madiev kidnapped his wife, Elmira more than 10 years ago. He is one of the many Kyrgyz men who have gotten married through the Central Asian practice of bride kidnapping.