Emomali Rakhmon

Tajikistan's President Emomali Rakhmon on Jan. 27 named his eldest daughter his chief of staff, in the leader's latest appointment of a relative to a top post.

The president of the impoverished central Asian country appointed his 38-year-old daughter Ozoda Rakhmon to the role after she served as deputy foreign minister since 2014, Rakhmon's office said.

Tajik police forcibly shaved the beards off nearly 13,000 random men as part of a government campaign to tackle radicalization. The bearded men were stopped in the street, taken to police stations for questioning and then urged  to shave. The unusual beard-shaving tactics are part of a broader campaign against the adoption of Islamic practices that could lead to extremism.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders of  some CIS member states watched scheduled Russian military drills on countering nuclear strike, reports ITAR-TASS.

The planned drills come ahead of the May 9 celebrations dedicated to victory in World War II.