Customers at the General Post Office (GPO) in Peshawar February 6 buy stamps commemorating the late computer prodigy Arfa Karim, who died of epilep...
A new Taliban code of conduct presents a list of dos and don’ts, including conditions for killing civilians, and much talk about winning over
A year has passed since the start of the conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia, but the topic is still the subject of debate in Uzbekistan.
Oxford University researchers claim the ‘Garden of Eden’ apple originated in the wild orchards of Tien Shan in Kazakhstan.
A new education law has come into effect in Turkmenistan, the third such legislative initiative since the country's independence.
On Aug. 27, Uzbekistan closed its border with neighbouring Tajikistan and says it will remain closed until Sept. 10. The reason for the closure is the celebration of the anniversary of the republic's independence on Sept. 1.
The Asian Development Bank has given Uzbekistan two loans, one for US$15 million and another for $85 million, to renovate irrigation networks in the Fergana and Zarafshan valleys.
Workers from the Rogun branch of OAO Sangtudin HES-1 have appealed to the Tajik Prosecutor General for help in obtaining their pay.
The construction of a rail line connecting Uzbekistan with Mazar-e Sharif, a major city in northern Afghanistan, will begin in the coming months.
The Afghan army has taken direct control of security in the southern city of Kandahar after the deadliest attack in the country in more than a year.
A new railroad bridge has been built across the Amudarya, the largest river in Central Asia.
A suicide bomber killed 22 Pakistani border guards on Aug. 27 in an attack at the main crossing point into Afghanistan, government officials said.
Ulan Melisbek, the new administrator of ‘.kg’, the Kyrgyzstan national internet domain, and also the Director of the State Patent Office (SPO), personally owns 38 domain names, some of which he has put up for sale, generating some controversy.
The Pakistan government launched a new initiative on Aug. 22 to double the amount of money sent by Pakistanis living abroad to their homeland from US$7 to $14 billion by 2012.
A Kyrgyz human rights organisation has called for immediate reform of the special services, including the State National Security Committee.
Islam can help combat the spread of HIV/AIDS, according to writers of the “HIV/AIDS from an Islamic perspective” handbook published in Dushanbe.
On Aug. 25, the government of Kyrgyzstan ordered the immediate start of construction of a road to bypass the Uzbek settlement of Sokh in Kyrgyzstan’s Batken region.
Sindh Province’s government has approved a joint venture with Engro Pakistan to explore and extract enough coal from the Thar mines to generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity.
Tajikistan’s manufacturing sector continues to contract. Production was 15 percent lower for the first seven months of this year than for the same period last year. Cotton-processing was hit hardest.
The simultaneous detonations of five car bombs in Kandahar, Afghanistan, destroyed the offices of a Japanese construction company, killing women and children and wounding at least 64 people in the bloodiest terrorist attack since July 2008.
Two cases of the A/H1N1 virus have been detected in Kazakhstan. Both patients are out of danger and have already been sent home to continue their treatment as outpatients.
The Ajoka Theatre, in collaboration with ‘Rising Pakistan’ and the Lahore Arts Council, launched three days of theatrical performances with themes of peace, tolerance and communal harmony.
It is crucial to document local traditions and historical sites in Pakistan that are rapidly deteriorating, if not altogether disappearing, according to Ambassador Robert Kevile of Norway.
By order of the Tajik Agricultural Minister, university students will not be called on to harvest cotton this year.
The leading candidates in Afghanistan’s presidential election have both claimed victory, but the country’s Independent Election Commission announced Aug. 26 that both have roughly 40 percent of the ballots counted from only ten percent of the nation’s polling stations.
The U.S. government provided Tajikistan funds to reconstruct border posts in Kulma and Kazyl-Art.
On Aug. 24, Kazakhstan's financial police announced the arrest of Jomart Yertayev and Aleksey Ageyev, former senior managers of Alyans Bank.
The Uzbek government is continuing to strengthen its border in the Fergana Valley, the most densely-populated region of Central Asia.
Jahan Bairamova and Igor Barzasekov from Ashgabad took gold and bronze respectively at the Kazakhmyz Open, an international youth tournament in Almaty.
In Kyrgyzstan, as elsewere in the Muslim world, the holy month of Ramadan has begun. This year, Ramadan began on Aug. 22 and will continue until Sept. 19.
The struggle between Pakistan’s Taliban leadership intensified as members of the militant group killed several people close to slain commander Baitullah Mehsud, Pakistani government officials said Aug. 23.
Political parties in the autonomous province of Gorno-Badakhshan fear that winter conditions could pose problems for the parliamentary election campaign taking place in the middle of winter next February.
Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov wants audits conducted to avoid fraud by bank executives.
Hundreds of Turkmen students are being prevented from leaving the country, and students headed to study abroad are being removed from departing flights.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) directed domestic banks to provide US$3 billion worth of credit to the agricultural sector for the 2009 to 2010 fiscal year.
On Aug. 18, internationally respected NGO Human Rights Watch demanded that Uzbek authorities release human rights activist Oyazimkhon Khidirova who was arrested on July 28 on charges of hooliganism, fraud and tax evasion.
Pakistan’s population has grown by more than 110 million in just five decades. To curtail growth, the Pakistani Ministry of Population Welfare is using art as a tool to educate people about family planning.
The Tajik Customs Service received specialised drug detection equipment under the EC Cooperation Programme on Border Control and Preventing the Spread of Drugs in Central Asia.
Uzbekistan's national airline will spend US$1.13 billion to purchase 16 Boeing and Airbus passenger aircraft.
The Lahore High Court (LHC) issued an order on Pakistan’s Independence Day to stop the sale of national flags adorned with images of personalities and cartoon characters.
In Pakistan, many HIV cases go unreported or even undiagnosed because of the high cost of screening tests, associated social taboos, and fear of discrimination.
More than 2,000 Afghan citizens temporarily living in Tajikistan were unable to vote in this year’s presidential elections.
Commander of the U.S. Central Command Gen. David Petraeus called on Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov at his Oqsaroy residence on Aug. 18. This was their second meeting this year.
The State Bank of Pakistan has reduced the discount rate by 100 basis points (one percent) for the first quarter of FY 2009-10 to ease mark-up rates as inflation declines.
Memorial services, expressions of condolence and special programmes across the country marked the 12th anniversary of the death of legendary musician Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, particularly in his native city Faisalabad and Lahore, where he earned recognition as an artist.
This year, Tajikistan hopes to bring its own bread to the table. According to Ministry of Agriculture projections, the 2009 wheat harvest is set to exceed one million tonnes for the first time since the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Truck art in Pakistan offers insights into regional trends and the aesthetics of different ethnicities in the country according to a noted folk artist.
The Afghan government and the principal opposition candidate declared the country's second presidential election a success on Aug. 20, despite indications that Taliban threats and attacks had kept some voters at home in southern and eastern Afghanistan.
Kazakhstan will soon have a Computer Reaction Service that will control Kaznet, the Kazakh segment of the internet.
For nearly 200 Turkmen students, the start of this academic year means studying in another ex-Soviet state, the Republic of Belarus.
A summer rehabilitation camp for victims of anti-personnel landmines has opened in Varzob gorge. They will undergo physical and psychological rehabilitation and also participate in educational seminars.
Tajikistan's Ministry of Finance intends to increase gold production at the Shugnob gold mine to 400kg per year.
A South Kazakhstan provincial district court convicted five employees of a branch of the Kazarsenal Research and Manufacturing Association of causing ordnance explosions.
Five years ago, high turnout in Afghanistan’s Pashtun belt helped carry Hamid Karzai to the presidency. Insecurity and voter apathy made it harder in the Aug. 20 election..
Early this month, new trade and service regulations were implemented in Uzbekistan. Companies in these industries are to conduct transactions with customers primarily through credit cards.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has bought a 25 percent plus one share stake in Agroinvestbank, Tajikistan’s second-largest bank.
UN Special Representative for Afghanistan Kai Eide visited the polling stations in Kabul at Zarghona Secondary School in the Qala-i-Fatullah area of the city on Aug. 20.
Sporadic attacks hit Afghan towns as polls opened on Aug. 20 for an anxiously awaited presidential election that Taliban fighters have vowed to disrupt, but the UN says the turnout is encouraging.
Sporadic attacks hit Afghan towns as polls opened on Aug. 20 for an anxiously awaited presidential election that Taliban fighters have vowed to disrupt, but the UN says the turnout is encouraging.
Journalists and UN workers report that voting is underway despite sporadic violence.
It was a good year for Turkmen winemakers at the 2009 Yalta/Golden Griffin international competition of wines and liqueurs.
On Aug. 16, an auto accident in Almaty Region’s Karasai district, on the road from the Almaarasan Gorge to Almaty, killed 11 people.
Ample rainfall is usually good news for farmers and professional agriculture, but depending on the crop it may be a blessing or a curse.
Broadcasting by Tajik private radio station Today has been cut off for the third time in the station’s two-year history.
Pakistani banks reported that deposits during the first quarter of 2009 increased by US$927 million from the previous quarter as the economy moves towards recovery.
Voters in Afghanistan go to the polls Aug. 20 to decide whether to re-elect President Hamid Karzai to another five year term or to choose one of 30 other candidates who say they have a plan to lead the impoverished country out of eight years of war.
Less than one percent of Afghanistan's polling stations are at risk of being attacked by insurgents despite a spike in violence two days before elections, the NATO-led coalition of forces said on Aug. 18.
The trial of five members of the religious extremist organisation Tablighi Jamaat has concluded.
Although President Hamid Karzai remains the favorite to win Thursday’s presidential election, Abdullah has risen above the 30 other remaining candidates in the field and provided the only credible challenge to the incumbent.
Tajikistan refused to extradite former Kyrgyz Defense Ministry officer Mukhammadi Salimzode who was convicted by the Supreme Court in May of spying and a coup attempt.
Kyrgyzgaz Deputy General Director Kuban Myrzakanov said talks between Bishkek and Tashkent on the price for Uzbek were broken off.
Security forces have captured the Pakistani Taliban's top spokesman in an operation near the Afghan border, intelligence officials said Aug. 18.
On Aug. 10, the Kazakh Muslim Spiritual Authority opened its first post-secondary madrasa for young men in Almaty.
The International Trade Centre (ITC) recently launched a project to fund US$3.66 million in investments in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to help boost their textile exports.
For many days now, everybody in Afghanistan has been anticipating the second presidential election in Afghanistan. The day before that is the 28th of Assad on which day in 1298 (or 1919 according to the Gregorian calendar) Afghanistan officially declared its independence from the British Empire.
Three candidates in the Afghan presidential election, including incumbent President Hamid Karzai, have faced off in a nationally broadcast debate. It was the first time a sitting president has participated in such an election debate.
Almost 100 women from the Kyrgyz village of Nura blocked the Osh-Erkechtam highway. They demanded that construction of all residential homes in this village, which was hit by an earthquake in 2008, be completed before the cold weather begins.
On Aug. 14, Pakistan celebrated its 62nd year as a free nation and marked the Independence Day celebrations across all the provinces and capital city Islamabad with traditional zeal.
The joint military exercise was the result of cooperation between Tajikistan's armed forces and the U.S. Central Command.
A Tajik mountain climber reached the summit of Ozodi in the Pamir Mountains, raised the Tajik flag and placed a plaque with the peak’s new name at the site.
U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W. Patterson granted funds to the Punjab Archaeology Department to restore the façade of the Alamgiri Gate.
Pakistani officials said military strikes on Taliban bases in north-west tribal areas Aug. 13 killed at least 22 insurgents.
With eyes on the vast floriculture market outside, Pakistan has set up model flora farms in several cities to promote the export-oriented flower industry.
The Seismology Institute of Kyrgyzstan's Academy of Sciences has launched a project to promote quake-resistant designs for the country's residential buildings.
Talks between Kazakhstan and China on the sharing of trans-border river water resources have stalled, according to the Kazakh Strategic Studies Institute. Water levels in reservoirs are falling due to expanding economic activity near the country’s borders.
Smuggled from Afghanistan and Iran, countries that allow duty free auto imports, the most desirable and expensive cars are being sold at rock bottom prices in Pakistan.
On Aug. 11, human rights activists, media rights campaigners and journalists in Almaty called for the release of Ramazan Esergepov, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Alma-Ata Info, who was sentenced on Aug. 8 to three years in prison for disclosing state secrets.
An interview with the actress Resham whose success in the Pakistani film industry led to her judging the first reality talent show 'Hero Banay Ke Tarang'.
The Canadian company Tethys Petroleum Ltd. is drilling in the Komsomolskoye petroleum field in Luchob, close to the capital of Tajikistan.
The Interdepartmental Council on Religion was converted to the Coordinating Council to Prevent Religious Extremism under a government resolution passed Aug. 7.
Fierce clashes between Taliban fighters and those loyal to a pro-government tribal leader killed at least 70 people, intelligence officials said Aug. 12.
The winner of Star Academy 4 held two sold out concerts in Baghdad, paying an emotional first visit to her “heart’s home.”
Control, monitoring, testing and commissions have long been an integral part of life in Uzbek society. And since life goes on, control also evolves and takes on more and more complex forms.
As part of its humanitarian initiative with Afghanistan, the government of Turkmenistan has built a healthcare facility in Faryab Province.
Hundreds of excited music fans queue up to attend Afghanistan's premier pop music TV event, the finals of “Afghan Star.”
Three Tajik teachers caught taking bribes in the middle of entrance exams had criminal cases filed against them.
On Aug. 10, an Uighur society in Kyrgyzstan held an unauthorised demonstration devoted to the tragic events in Urumchi, China that took the lives of 200 people. It ended after 45 minutes with the arrest of its organisers.
Al Qaeda wants to install one of its commanders to succeed Pakistan’s Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud who was killed last week, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Aug. 10.
More than 2,500 athletes from 45 Asian countries competed in the 2009 Asian Combat Sports Games in Bangkok. Athletes from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan represented Central Asia.
Schools in Tajikistan will offer a secular course on Islam starting Sept. 1.
On Aug. 2, those who died in the 1916 armed uprisings of Central Asian peoples against the Russian Empire were remembered in Kyrgyzstan.
