The Taliban has increased the frequency of its attacks ahead of the national elections on April 5. With election workers being kidnapped, would-be suicide bombers being shot in the streets, and journalists being killed – the future is not looking particularly bright for Afghanistan. The election will mark the first time in the country’s history…
The role of Germany in resolving the Ukraine crisis seems to be increasing, as Berlin inveighed strongly against Russian actions within the Ukrainian Crimea in threatening “massive” political and economic sanctions should Moscow continue to refuse to negotiate with its counterparts in Kiev. German Chancellor Angela Merkel admonished that an increasing number of asset freezes…
Recent events in Ukraine have made the aging crop of Central Asian dictators and presidents uneasy for a number of reasons. Ukraine’s anti-government protests flared up suddenly and toppled a notable strongman among strongmen, Viktor Yanukovych. And the Russian government’s invasion of Crimea may have set a dangerous precedent for future interventions in its former…
Former U.S. Congressman Dan Burton, a Republican from Indiana’s 5th congressional district, has drawn controversy over his efforts to promote the Rogun Hydroelectric Dam project in Tajikistan that, if completed, would surpass China’s Three Gorges Dam as the largest dam in the world. The hydroelectric dam, which in spite of decades of planning has only…
To compound already-bursting tensions between Ukraine and Russia, the Russian oil and gas company Gazprom has raised prices to the country by 37% by cancelling a discount and even threatening to cut supplies entirely. This, according to a statement delivered by Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Prodan, means that Ukraine will be forced to pay $368.50…
Negotiations on the CASA-1000 Power Supply Program have continued today in Istanbul. The proposed transmission project will transmit 1300 MW of surplus electricity from existing hydroelectric power sources in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan through Afghanistan to power-starved end markets in Pakistan and India. Details over the Power Purchase agreement are still being hotly debated, especially as…
Iran’s Anti-Narcotics Headquarters for International Relations has issued a statement condemning the traffic of heroin through Iranian territory. Deputy General Mahmoud Bayat took advantage of a meeting with Sweden’s Foreign Ministry to underline Iranian discontent with the increasingly voluminous quantity of heroin trafficked both into Iranian drug markets and through Iran destined for markets in…
Knife-wielding assailants stormed the Kunming railway station in southeastern China on Saturday, resulting in almost 200 casualties. According to Chinese state media, there were more than ten assailants who were dressed in black and were both men and women. The attack is said to be the most sophisticated yet that has ever occurred outside of…
More than 6,000 Russian forces flowed into the Ukrainian region of Crimea on Saturday, generating strong fervent criticism from Western powers and placing Ukraine in an uncertain situation. The maneuvers engaged in by the Russian forces began Friday with the arrival of armed men to the southeastern Ukrainian region, but the incursion into Ukrainian territory…
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