• Central Asia

    Uzbek President Islam Karimov hospitalized

    President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov hospitalised, the Russian media reports. According to news agencies, Kerimov is currently hospitalised. The President undergoes a medical examination that, together with the treatment “will take time”. Karimov is 78-years-old and he rules Uzbekistan since 1989. He is the region’s oldest leader. No Obvious Successor…

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  • Central Asia

    Putin to open Russian school in Kyrgyzstan

    Russian school will be opened in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, in September, the head of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs Leonid Slutsky said, Vestnik Kavkaza reports. “Russian Peace Foundation almost completed construction of Russian school in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, we will open it during the visit…

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  • Central Asia

    Russian soldier sentenced to life for Armenian killings

    An Armenian court has found a Russian soldier guilty of murder charges and sentenced him to life in prison for the 2015 massacre of seven members of an Armenian family, RFERL reports. The court in Armenia’s northwestern city of Gyumri issued the verdict and sentence aga inst Russian Army Private…

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  • Central Asia

    Iran to purchase 60 Russian light helicopters

    The Russian Helicopters holding is in talks with Iran on the deliveries of Ansat and Ka-226T light helicopters for Iran`s health ministry, the company’s press service said on August 23. “Russian Helicopters issue is in talks to supply Ansat and Ka-226T light helicopters in the interest of the Ministry of…

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  • Central Asia

    The language of Azerbaijan: Turkish or Azerbaijani?

    Written by: Altay Göyüşov – This article was originally published by the BBC Azerbaijani Service. The AsiaN cites from Meydan.tv. *** The language issue in Azerbaijan has long been more of a political question than a scientific one. In June of 1918, the government of the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic enacted a law…

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  • East Asia

    North Korea closes down embassy in Uzbekistan

    North Korea has closed down its embassy in Uzbekistan as part of a restructuring of its missions in the Commonwealth of Independent States, a diplomatic source in Uzbekistan said on August 20, Trend News reports. The source said that the North Korean embassy informed foreign embassies in Tashkent, the Uzbek…

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  • Central Asia

    Kazakhstan and Israel to jointly manufacture UAVs

    Kazakhstan and Israel have reached agreements on joint production of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicle), Kazakh ministry of defense said on August 22, Trend reports. The message did not reveal the UAV models that Kazakhstan and Israel plan to manufacture. The agreements have been reached during the meeting of Kazakh and…

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  • East Asia

    Chinese TV dramas in Mongolia: Can entertainment become political?

    John Holland – The UB Post The first two of twenty-five Chinese television dramas have begun to be aired in Mongolia. Yet, behind the polite rhetoric by governmental officials on the virtues of cultural exchange, there is concern among ordinary Mongolians about the future influence that these shows could have…

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  • East Asia

    Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail project gets all permits

    Seven months after ground was broken for Indonesia’s first high-speed railway, which is being developed by a China-Indonesia joint venture, the project received a construction permit for its entire length, media reports said on August 21. Experts said Sunday that construction should be completed within three years as planned, despite…

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  • East Asia

    Alliance of convenience

    Many, if not most, Westerners with a passing interest in North Korea tend to believe that in the bygone days of the Communist bloc the Soviet Union and North Korea were close allies. This is a gross mistake. While relations between Moscow and Pyongyang were initially quite close, from the…

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