Author: Jimmie Mann

As Kazakhstan moves to remove the Taliban from the list of terrorist groups, Rustam Emomali, speaker of Tajikistan’s parliament, said that the spread of religious extremism from Afghanistan poses a threat to members of the CSTO. Religious schools in Afghanistan “train suicide fighters”, he said. According to TASS news agency, the Tajik president’s son stressed that “more than 1,000 religious schools have been established in Afghanistan, most of them in Afghanistan’s border provinces”. The risk of extremism infiltrating from Afghanistan into CSTO countries has increased more than ever, the speaker of Tajikistan’s parliament told a meeting of the heads of…

The Soviet Union’s collapse 32 years ago led to rapid change, economic collapse, and violence. In Tajikistan, that violence slid rapidly into civil war. Reflecting on the Soviet Union’s collapse 32 years ago and attempting to draw any sort of conclusion is often a matter of perspective. In his new book, “Moscow’s Heavy Shadow: The Violent Collapse of the USSR,” Dr. Isaac McKean Scarborough, an assistant professor of Russian and Eurasian Studies at Leiden University, writes of the collapse from one of the Soviet Union’s most distant peripheries — Dushanbe. In doing so, he highlights a perspective not often taken…

A year ago Germany deported to Tajikistan an activist from that country’s exiled opposition movement who had been living in Dortmund since 2009. What happened next is a shocking example of what can occur when Germany fails to uphold safeguards in its increased efforts to deport unsuccessful asylum seekers. The Bundestag this month gave police greater powers to carry out deportations. The activist, Abdullohi Shamsiddin, 33, was deported to Tajikistan on January 18 2023. He was detained on arrival by the security services. Two months later he was convicted of trying to overthrow the constitution and jailed for seven years. No credible…

Pakistan has set an ambitious goal to increase annual rice exports to $10 billion by 2030, representing a fourfold surge from the current $2.5 billion. This initiative is part of the country’s broader strategy to diversify its export portfolio and explore new markets, as discussed during the maiden Export Advisory Council Meeting on Friday. Chaired by Commerce Minister Gohar Ejaz, the meeting delved into various aspects of rice exports, with a particular focus on developing a precise roadmap to achieve the $10 billion target. Chairman of the Punjab Rice Research Board and CEO of Guard Agricultural Research & Services Shehzad…

Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited’s (SNGPL) task force continued its efforts to curb gas theft in Islamabad and uncovered an illicit gas pipeline stretching 1,500 meters from the village of Japan Road, Kangota Syedan. A spokesperson for SNGPL reported on Thursday that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has initiated legal actions against those responsible for establishing unauthorized gas networks. Providing details, the spokesperson mentioned that joint operations involving task force teams and FIA officials were conducted to dismantle an illicit gas pipeline installed in a private housing society near Village Kangota Syedan along Japan Road. The spokesperson revealed that the…

PESHAWAR: Jamiat Ule­ma-i-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Reh­man claimed on Saturday that Pakistan had been facing economic pressure from different segments to recognise Israel. Speaking at a corner meeting of party workers, he alleged that the previous PTI government had been “backed by Jews” to come to power with the agenda of “withdrawing support from Kashmir, recognising Israel and disintegrating Pakistan”. On the Gaza conflict, the JUI-F chief said the Israeli invasion of the enclave had brought the Palestine issue to the limelight again, stressing that indiscriminate bombing of the residential population in the Gaza Strip was a war crime.…

Copenhagen (13/11 – 37.5) When Ranil Wickremesinghe took over as Sri Lanka’s president in July after a popular uprising ousted his predecessor, the South Asian island nation was engulfed in its worst economic meltdown in 75 years. Since then, President Wickremesinghe has managed to a keep a lid on mass protests, improve supplies of essentials and on Monday, secured a nearly $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that opens the door to restructuring about $58 billion of debt and receive funding from other lenders. He has done that despite a deeply unpopular government, his own party commanding just one…

KHAVDA, India — Rising from the bare expanse of the large salt desert that separates India from Pakistan is what will likely be the world’s largest renewable energy project when completed three years from now. The solar and wind energy project will be so big that it will be visible from space, according to developers of what is called the Khavda renewable energy park, named after the village nearest to the project site. At the site, thousands of laborers install pillars on which solar panels will be mounted. The pillars rise like perfectly aligned concrete cactuses that stretch as far…

The quality of the internet has been severely compromised by restrictions placed on the market. The first step to solving a problem is admitting that it exists. Telecommunications regulators in Tajikistan have taken a surprising step in that direction by reportedly admitting this week that a staggering 95 percent of the country’s territory is covered by only outdated 2G mobile connections. This situation is in no small part due to the State Communications Service itself. In addition to regulating the sector, the service and the people running it are also major market players, albeit in highly nebulous ways that would be unthinkable…

Paris (08/11 – 75) Sri Lanka’s economic and political crisis of 2022 left the country bankrupt. Ranil Wickremesinghe took over as President of Sri Lanka in July 2022 when the country was in the middle of its worst economic and political crisis since independence in 1948. His predecessor, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, had been forced out of power after facing mass protests prompted by 12-hour power cuts and persistent fuel and food shortages. The nation was bankrupt.Wickremesinghe brought in the International Monetary Fund and has focused on reaching macroeconomic stability and driving tough but much-needed structural reforms. Today, as Sri Lanka embarks…