China
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Nowruz – The Iranian New Year
Nowruz is one of the oldest celebrations in the world. It has been a fixture on the cultural calendar in many regions for more than 2,500 years. It marks the beginning of spring and also the change of seasons in the Iranian solar calendar. Sharam Ahad offers his impressions of the celebrations.
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Profile: the Uighur civil rights activist Ilham Tohti
The moderate critic
Ilham Tohti, a well-known Uighur and a moderate critic of Beijing's policy towards the country's Muslim minority, was found guilty of "separatism" and sentenced to life in prison last September, despite the fact that he has always worked to improve relations between Uighurs and Han Chinese and is against breaking up the country. A profile by Thomas Latschan
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The Uighurs' situation
An escalation of violence in Xinjiang
The number of reports of murders, attacks and unrest from the Chinese province of Xinjiang has been on the rise for months. The province's Uighur population has long complained about being disadvantaged in religious, cultural and social terms. The authorities claim unspecified "terrorists" are responsible for the violence, but the public almost always remains in the dark about the true background to the attacks. By Ulrich von Schwerin.
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The Crimean crisis
The Near East: scene of a new Cold War?
The Crimean crisis could mark the beginning of a new confrontation between East and West. Not only is there already talk of a second Cold War, there are already signs of it in the Near East. A commentary by Nora Müller