Customers at the General Post Office (GPO) in Peshawar February 6 buy stamps commemorating the late computer prodigy Arfa Karim, who died of epilep...
Turkmen athlete Vepa Nurnazarov won three gold medals and the Best Athlete Cup and set two world records at the European Powerlifting Championship.
Rock salt is good for patients suffering from kidney disorders, according to a study carried out by the Department of Physics at India’s Allahabad University. The study revealed the concentration of sodium and potassium in rock salt suits the needs of kidney patients better than other available salts.
Cairo University postponed exams set for June 4 and the Egyptian president's security service took over the campus in anticipation of U.S. President Barack Obama’s address to the Muslim world from its main hall.
Iraqi and Russian foreign ministers met to discuss development projects in the oil, electricity and arms sectors.
NATO troops attacked a suspected training camp for foreign fighters in eastern Afghanistan on May 28. An Afghan official said 34 militants and 22 Arabs and Pakistanis were killed in the attack. Among the dead were six who detonated suicide vests during the battle.
The Islamic Conference of foreign ministers wrapped up its summit with a call for aid to Tajikistan, which is dealing with the aftermath of catastrophic rains.
A programme to lower child mortality rates and improve children's health has been implemented in Kyrgyzstan.
The Taliban claimed responsibility May 28 for a deadly bomb and gun attack in Lahore. Two new blasts ripped through a market in the northern city of Peshawar. At least four people were killed and dozens wounded in explosions in Peshawar's Qissa Khawani market.
About 125 projects have been removed from the Public Sector Development Programme and more than 400 others are facing implementation delays because the government is trying to reduce spending.
The Uzbek Border Service has no information regarding the incursion of individuals from Kyrgyzstan who attacked law enforcement officials in Khanabad May 26.
Unknown militants attacked a police station and national security office May 26 in Khanabad and Andijan, Uzbekistan, near the Kyrgyz border in the densely populated Fergana Valley.
The Tajik Ministry of Finance will invest US$37.5 million to support cotton farming.
Four presidential candidates are competing for the hearts and minds of Iran, but early polls show that the real race has narrowed down to two.
Gun-toting suicide attackers exploded a large bomb in the centre of Lahore, killing at least 24 people and wounding around 300 in a targeted assault on the offices of the police chief and ISI, Pakistan's main spy agency on May 27.
The total length of the modern, super-motorway will be 1,500 km.
A seminar dedicated to implementing the UN Convention against Corruption in Uzbek law and practice drew a U.S. offer of technical support to Tashkent on this issue.
Constructing transmission lines from Central to South Asia will cost an estimated US$900 million. Linking the electricity grids of Central and South Asia could create additional economic and social benefits for countries in the two regions.
Pakistan exports increased US$2.61 billion in first 10 months of the current financial year because of the devaluation of rupee against the U.S. dollar. alculated in U.S. dollars, the value of Pakistan’s exports declined by 3 percent between July 2008 and April 2009
Young kyokushin (also kyokushinkai) karateka from the Central Asian region and Azerbaijan competed in the Central Asian Championship in Dushanbe.
Pupils at secondary schools all over Tajikistan went to their schools for the last time on May 25. A nationwide ban on extravagant celebrations, however, prevented graduates from marking the occasion in the festive style of past years.
Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said May 26 that at least 29 militants were killed in Swat and six in South Wazirstan, while Swat’s Taliban chief asked his men to stop battling government troops in Mingora.
Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov’s new book on the country’s medicinal plants can be consulted to make beneficial medicinal compounds.
In the course of Operation Poppy-2009, several large wild cannabis plantations were discovered and destroyed in northern Tajikistan.
The list of candidates for Kyrgyzstan’s July 23 presidential election continues to shrink. There are now only 14 candidates in the race.
On May 25, the Taliban urged civilians to return to the Swat Valley's main city Mingora, promising they would not attack security forces battling for control of the city out of concern for the safety of trapped residents. Pakistan’s military dismissed the gesture as a ploy.
Khanafit (Hanafi) Islam, the official religious movement in Tajikistan, established an information web site, www.islom-sughd.tj, May 17 at the initiative of the Council of Ulemas in Sogdi.
The Third Bakhoriston International Festival of Professional Musical Arts took place in Dushanbe in mid-May. World class pianists from five countries participated.
The precipitous decrease in gas deliveries is a direct consequence of the debts that Tajikistan owes Tashkent, which has threatened to suspend shipments to its neighbour completely if these debts are not cleared.
Kazakh Denis Urubko is the 15th climber, and the first in the former Soviet Union, to climb all 14 of the world’s peaks above 8,000 metres.
The strongest challenger to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attracted an unusually large and exuberant crowd of supporters on May 25 in Tabriz. With only a few weeks left in the election campaign, his appeal may pose a threat to Ahmadinejad’s re-election.
Plastic surgeons have been coming to Kazakhstan since 1999 as part of the
The government announced a US$99.8 million package for rehabilitation of internally displaced persons.
According to estimates by international organisations, 650,000 people in Tajikistan are going hungry and over 1.5 million are suffering from a food shortage.
Pakistan intensified its military operation to regain control of the country's north-west on May 24, with fighting focused on the largest city in the Swat Valley. Troops were engaged in street battles with militants in Mingora, the gateway into the valley.
A report on the monitoring of Tajik criminal court practices by the Centre for Human Rights was presented in Dushanbe.
Because of a lack of water and minimal overflow this year from the Irtysh River, one of the largest on the continent, both Kazakhstan's fishing industry and its entire agricultural sector are suffering.
The Pakistan Health Ministry and National Health Services Leeds is planning a “tobacco-free homes” project to protect the nation’s households from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke.
The Turkmenistan national youth judo team brought back 17 medals from an international tournament that ended in Moscow on May 15.
Despite global recession, Pakistan recorded a stunning growth of US$917 million in the inflow of remittances from Arab countries in the first ten months of the current fiscal year, which began July 2008.
The first metallurgic plant in Turkmenistan, with the capacity to manufacture 160,000 tons of finished product annually, is now in operation.
The National Bank of Tajikistan devalued the somoni, the national currency, on May 19. It lost nearly three percent of its value against the U.S. dollar on the first day and has fallen 6.4 percent since then.
Kazakhstan has beefed up border security for arriving cars and commercial freight in response to concern about terrorists smuggling biological or other weapons into the country.
The law on the status of the capital of Tajikistan was amended to ban residents of Dushanbe from keeping cattle, sheep and goats, donkeys, rabbits and chickens at home.
Deliberations of the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan in the Nookat trial ended in disgrace. The Kyrgyz Ombudsman’s Human Rights Council claimed that the lack of professionalism shown by state prosecutors undermined the confidence of religious people in the justice system and the supremacy of the law.
The first ‘Rainbow Kyrgyzstan’ art festival supported the rights of sexual minorities, the most discriminated-against group in the country.
The government of Kazakhstan has approved a US$26.5 million programme to tackle drug addiction and drug dealing.
The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration removed the last batch of spent nuclear fuel from Kazakhstan consisting of highly enriched uranium sourced from Russia that weighed almost 74kgs.
In a sign of growing public support for the Pakistani army’s latest offensive against militants, the residents of Kalam, a town in the Swat Valley, have taken up arms against Taliban and driven them away. Hundreds of armed people confronted about 50 Taliban fighters who tried to take control of the mountain town.
Civil servants, former athletes, schoolchildren, students, diplomats and disabled people took part in the mass run.
Unknown Al-Qaeda terrorists are threatening the Muttehida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in Karachi by phone. Intelligence agencies and police have also warned MQM against possible suicide bombing attempts, or a gunman/hostage situation similar to what happened in Mumbai, India, last November.
Donations to help refugees fleeing Pakistan's latest offensive against the Taliban surpassed US$200 million on May 21.
Federal Sports Minister Pir Aftab Shah Jilani announced a nine percent increase in the Ministry’s budget at a conference on May 19.
The party Hizb ut-Tahrir, active in Tajikistan since the end of 1998, was banned in the republic in 2000. One of its main goals is the reconstitution of the Islamic Khalifat on the territory of Muslim countries, which requires the overthrow of the secular governments that now rule them.
Olzhas Suleymenov, poet, scientist, public figure and Kazakhstan's former ambassador to Italy, proposed the destruction of all nuclear weapons in the world with the exception of a few warheads that would be turned over to the UN Security Council as a deterrent against future conflicts.
Iran successfully test-launched a mid-range surface-to-surface missile, state media reported.
Four Tajik journalists' organisations have circulated a statement of concern over the prosecution of journalist Ozodbek Khosabekov.
An army unit has rescued a family who claim the Taliban tried to force them to marry off their daughters to members of the group in Swat’s Matta Tehsil, according to Pakistani television. Elsewhere in Lahore, a militant captured during a security force raid on a Taliban training camp revealed that the Taliban forcibly recruit and train men and boys to fight.
Eight sacks containing 172kg of hashish were discovered May 14 in a hidden compartment during a house search in the Naukat region.
The registration of presidential candidates has ended; 18 declared they would run for the office. One, however, withdrew from the race the following day in favour of the United Opposition candidate.
Tajikistan's president has decreed the removal of his portraits from roadside billboards and the walls of local officials' offices.
The complete start-up of the fourth and final hydroelectric unit of the Sangtuda Hydroelectric Power Plant-1 took place on May 15. Running the hydroelectric power plant at full capacity will partially resolve Tajikistan's winter energy problems.
The U.S. will provide Pakistan US$110 million to cope with the refugee crisis in the north-west.
Tajik Interior Ministry forces were deployed May 18 to the Rashta gorge 220 kilometres east of Dushanbe. Special Alfa forces and a Defence Ministry division followed May 19.
Athletes from 25 countries took part in the competition. Despite domination by Chinese athletes, a young Kazakh won gold, beating the Olympic women's champion on total weight.
Tajik Interior Ministry forces were deployed May 18 to the Rashta gorge 220 kilometres east of Dushanbe. Special Alfa forces and a Defence Ministry division followed May 19.
While Iran's supreme leader urged the public not to vote for pro-Western candidates in the June 12 presidential election, he did not indicate whether he supports hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
On May 15, Uzbek border guards shot at a car wounding its three Kyrgyz passengers in an incident that angered Kyrgyz in nearby towns. Border guards from both countries have stepped up security in a bid to prevent unrest.
On May 17, leading ulema of Pakistan declared that suicide attacks and beheadings of people were “un-Islamic” acts and said that militants in Swat and Fata were pursuing the agenda of Pakistan’s enemies.
After presenting his credentials to Tajikistan President Rakhmon on May 14, Russian ambassador Yuri Popov stated that problems in Russian-Tajikistan relations can and should be resolved so that the interests of both sides are taken into consideration to the fullest extent possible.
A department of Kazakh language and culture will be established at the Mongolian State University in Ulan Bator, the nation’s capital. Close to 110,000 ethnic Kazakhs now live in Mongolia.
On May 14, the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan began hearing appeals lodged by 32 people convicted in connection with an uprising in the city of Nookat in Osh Province, characterised by authorities as extremist behaviour that broke out last October.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said the Pakistan army will finish the offensive and ensure peace as he sought support from political parties amid growing concerns about the well being of more than a million people displaced by the fighting.
The Asian Development Bank will provide a US$5 million grant to the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus to help resolve problems associated with the effects of global climate change on the region.
Constant torrential rains have been hammering southern Kyrgyzstan for more than a week. On May 15, the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the Kara-Kulzhin district announced that 350 homes had been flooded.
Pakistan's interior ministry chief says the Pakistan military has managed to kill
Torrential rains led to powerful mudslides in the country's south on May 14, submerging about 200 homes in villages of the Khuroson district under mud and rock.
Kazakhstan's Deputy Defence Minister Mukhtar Altynbayev recently stated that,
The Civil Initiative on Internet Policy Fund said Kyrgyzstan has more than 1,000 Internet portals in the .kg domain.
Taliban fighters are turning up in increasing numbers in Karachi, according to the Taliban, police officials and an intelligence memo.
A film on the events in the Uzbek city of Andizhan made by, Kyrgyz independent television journalist Azima Rasulova was shown in the small office of a human rights organisation because a screening at a larger venue was blocked.
To get the attention of unemployed youth, a troop of Kazakh stars is being
Turkmenistan's powerlifting team brought home 18 medals from the Asian Powerlifting Championship in Udaipur, India.
On May 12, at the invitation of the British Embassy in Tajikistan, the London reggae group Maroon Town visited Dushanbe.
Taliban fighters are shaving their beards to mingle with civilians as they flee security forces operations in Swat.
Several groups of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from lower parts of Buner district began to return to their homes after the provincial government declared those areas secure.
The International Monetary Fund has published a letter on its website from Tajikistan President Emomali Rakhmon to the fund's administration, in which he expresses his gratitude for the IMF’s support of his country’s economic reforms during a critical period.
A German development bank will invest US$6 million in the Tajikistan banking sector, which will then issue that amount as loans for small and medium-sized businesses in the country.
Alisher Boikuziyev, a Tajikistan citizen, was killed by border guards in an area of the Havast Syrdarian Region of Uzbekistan, when he attempted to cross the Tajik-Uzbek border illegally.
The Iranian presidential election campaign is shedding light on many domestic challenges and quarrels.
Kyrgyzstan currently has one commodities exchange and three stock exchanges. The Kyrgyz government wants to stimulate the development of more commodities exchanges in the country.
A Taliban spokesman issued a series of threats and ultimatums against Pakistani officials May 13 as the country's military continued its offensive against the terrorist group in the Swat Valley.
Construction of a small research lab began in Karachi and it is expected to be completed in June. After the lab’s inauguration, PTI Chief Imran Khan will ramp up his efforts to build a full hospital.
The National University of Uzbekistan celebrated its 91st anniversary.
The Tajik government has asked donors for US$180 million in financial aid to support the budget and implement a crisis management plan.
Talks were held in Andizhan between the governor of Dzhalal-Abad region of Kyrgyzstan and the local leader. The situation in the village of Chek, a territory disputed by Bishkek and Tashkent, was among the key issues.
'Kazbat' is a documentary film made in memory of the 17 Kazakhstani soldiers killed in 1995 defending the Tajik-Afghan border.
On May 12, members of Pakistan's National Assembly unanimously backed government and army efforts aimed at crushing the Taliban and those challenging the writ of the state in troubled areas.
After talks in London with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged to stand by Pakistan in its fight against the Taliban.
Grand Mufti of Indian-administered Kashmir Bashir-ud-Din condemned the Taliban’s imposition of a tax on minorities in Pakistan.
The U.S. government granted Tajikistan US$9.5 million under the auspices of a bilateral agreement to cooperate on law enforcement issues and combat illegal trade in narcotics.
