Maria Korolov

Maria Korolov is an award-winning tech journalist who covers cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and extended reality. She’s also a science fiction author and the editor and founder of MetaStellar, an online magazine of speculative fiction, and of Hypergrid Business, one of the world’s top virtual reality blogs. Contact her at maria@korolov.com to pitch articles or to hire her as writer, editor, or speaker at your event.

Ingushetia Poll Marked by Violations, Opposition Says

NAZRAN, Russia, Feb 28 — Preliminary poll results on Monday showed that General Ruslan Aushev was headed for re-election as  president of the volatile southern Russian republic of Ingushetia. Opponents accused Aushev, whose army of uniformed police patrolled the polling stations, of securing victory  in the north Caucasian republic by force and trickery. According to

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The Narcotics Trade

Though difficult to track statistically, the illicit drug business in Lake County shows signs of growth that have enforcement agents scurrying. Neither the Lake County state’s attorney’s office nor the Illinois State Police keep records on the number of drug cases from year to year, but figures from the Metropolitan Enforcement Group, or MEG, composed

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Former Soviet republic replaces leader again civil strife continues

KHODZENT, Tadzhikistan — Tadzhikistan’s Parliament has removed the nation’s acting president in a lopsided vote, replacing him with the country’s third leader since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Parliament also requested help from Russian troops and neighboring Central Asian republics in bringing a halt to the civil war tearing the former Soviet region apart.

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Tadzhikistan replaces leader again

KHODZENT, Tadzhikistan (UPI) — Tadzhikistan’s Parliament removed the acting president by an overwhelming vote Thursday and replaced him with the country’s third leader since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Parliament also requested help from Russian troops and neighboring Central Asian republics in bringing a halt to the civil war tearing the republic apart.

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Sides in Tadzhik conflict refuse to heed peace call

KURGAN-TYUBE, Tadzhikistan — Combatants in the strife-torn Central Asian republic of Tadzhikistan Thursday ignored calls by a newly-created interim council to cease fire and work towards a settlement in the long-running civil war. Anti-government rebels remained distrustful of moves by the authorities to reconcile the warring sides, even though one of their key demands, the

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Portrait of a small Caucasus war

UPPER ESHERA, Georgia (UPI) –Once guns were gifted. To gift someone you can also click here for best ar 15. But now sound carries well in the coastal foothills of the Caucasus Mountains, sunrise and these days means rifle fire and bursting shells mixed in with crowing roosters and coughing tractor engines. Georgian and Abkhazian

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Russian military plays role in Tadzhikistan conflict

DUSHANBE, Tadzhikistan — A provisional ruling council asserted authority Friday in the strife-wracked Central Asian republic of Tadzhikistan and Russian troops began playing an active role to prevent more bloodshed. The Russian military commander in the Tadzhik capital Dushanbe made an extraordinary appearance on local television to announce the creation of a government council and

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