The Eighth Session of the EurASec Interparliamentary Assembly met yesterday in St. Petersburg to discuss further economic cooperation, education, and coordinated anti-terrorist activities, particularly in regard to terrorist finance. EurASec is an economic collective security joined by Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The IPA is the legislative arm of EurASec, designed to help the passage of common legal […]
The Republic of Iran and the Republic of Tajikistan signed a Memorandum of Understanding in regard to increased direct investment in the Tajik Republic. What's upcoming: facilitation of Iranian business investment; the reconstruction of one cement plant and the construction of another; some large-scale construction projects; and the development of an auto plant. This last […]
Every year, a new typhoid epidemic: The most famous one in 2003, during the Central Asian Games, hosted in Dushanbe. Officials made one public service announcement, while residents and visitors continued to get sick. Tajikistan does better with this obligation now, because they are reporting that: Right now, in Kulyab, Tajikistan, there are 62 confirmed cases of […]
As highlighted recently in the newspapers El Financiero and Milenio.com, new studies show that community forest management in Mexico has reduced poverty and social inequity while conserving natural resources. Over 2,300 forest communities in Mexico have been given “forest use permission,” resulting not only in effective conservation, but also in economic growth within the communities. […]
Okay, it's not Friday, it's Wednesday. That should be your first hint. At Registan.net, they’ve been discussing how ridiculous things get in a hurry when news analysts get dramatic. This is particularly related to new developments in the Nazarbaev – Aliev controversy now spinning out. This is my mostly non-verbal warning for all Central Asia […]
For the first time, Mongolia's representative (Nyamaa Enkhbold) attended the EU-based Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), which is held every two years. Benito Ferrero-Waldner praised Mongolia's progress. New aid in the amount of Euro 17 million (USD 23 million) over the next three years almost doubles the earlier annual aid levels of Euro 3 million. In addition, Mongolia will enjoy […]
Today in the Wall Street Journal, the President of the Uyghur-American Association and World Uyghur Congress writes about the human rights situation in China's Xinjiang province. Ms. Kadeer was jailed for five years in China for her activities. Photo: Chinapage
A while back the Sunday New York Times had a front-page article (now archived, so you may need to pay to read it) on some remarkable successes that farmers in the Niger Delta have enjoyed. Chido Makunine of the African News Network provided a perceptive summary and assessment of the piece soon after it appeared. I particularly agree with […]
In our zeal to embrace alternative sources of energy, including biofuels, let's keep in mind that there may be very real human costs. And not surprisingly those human costs will be felt by the most vulnerable. The most vulnerable often live in Africa. IRIN points out a recent report arguing: The rush to produce biofuels, driven by the […]
On May 28, the President of Turkmenistan, Mr. Berdymuhammedov, visited Kazakhstan to engage in bilateral meetings with Kazakhstan's President Nazarbaev and crew. The news wires are more or less blipping through these developments as they do most short news stories in Central Asia, but in aggregate these articles are describing a watershed event. I’m so excited about this I’m finding it hard […]
Reviewing recent events: Last week, I wrote on the Nurbank scandal and the about-face decision to investigate Mr. Aliev rather than to send him out of the country until the scandal died down. At the time that Mr. Aliev was demoted from his Foreign Ministry position and made Ambassador to Austria, he was feeling his […]
On Friday, the World Food Programme condemned a spate of aid hijackings that have taken place primarily in West and Southern Afghanistan. The amount of food stolen over the past 12 months — 500 tonnes — was worth a total of USD 350,000. The attacks have been increasing in incidence since April. Food was to be […]
Facing threats from drug gangs along with two grenade attacks, the Mexican newspaper Cambio Sonora, announced that it will shut down temporarily. Located in the border state of Sonora, the newspaper had already halted most of its investigations into drug trafficking and organized crime. Newspaper officials said the attacks were designed to intimidate the staff […]
New announcements from the Save Mark Seidenfeld site: Mr. Seidenfeld's new charges have now been announced, after a trial delay announced in April, when initial charges appeared to have been satisfied by evidence. The first new charge states that he took more money to pay for the originally-disputed equipment than it actually cost. Derek Bloom over at the […]
At The New York Times Naruddin Farah, a Somalian writer who lives in Cape Town, provides some insight into the situation in Somalia from the vantage point as an insider-outsider who was tapped as a short term emissary between his native country's two main warring factions. He is not optimistic that peace will take […]