Though the results are far from finalized, already tallied votes indicate that Abdullah Abduallah could prevail in the preliminary round of Afghan elections. More than half of all the votes cast have yet to be counted, and a run-off is still likely, but Abdullah has widened his lead over his closest rival, Ashraf Ghani by…

Military operations designed to regain lost territory in eastern Ukraine failed on Wednesday. The much-publicized effort had seen Ukraine send columns of armored vehicles to cities that had been overtaken by pro-Russia separatist forces, but has thus far been an abject failure. Reported emerged that one column of armored vehicles were abandoned and subsequently seized…

Armed separatist bearing a striking resemblance to Russian forces seized many key buildings in Horlivka, a city in southeastern Ukraine, and one that previously held the distinction of being the last Ukrainian city in Donetsk province to resist the advanced of separatist advanced. The Ukrainian government, which seems to have all but renounced its claim…

The recently concluded, though still yet to be decided Afghan elections have been described as clean by one Afghan election official, who nonetheless offered the caveat that the elections, while cleaner and more fair than expected, were still marked by some fraud. The same official said that allegations of fraud should not be employed in…

The preponderance of Russian oil and gas in European markets has complicated and severely reduced the impact of European and American threats of retaliation for Russian aggression within Ukraine. Several European countries currently depend wholly on Russia for its supplies of gas, and some have even cautioned the European Union that rash decision making could…

Nearly 60% of Afghanistan’s populace turned out to vote in presidential elections held this past Saturday in Afghanistan. The effort has been described as courageous and indicative of a strong desire to move Afghan society forward, as 7 of Afghanistan’s 12 million voted despite threats of violent retribution from Taliban militants. Due to the country’s…

The 36th Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea commenced on Wednesday. The annual meeting, which convened in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, has been attended by delegations from Azerbaijan, Russia, Iran and Kazakhstan, as well the host country. Debates have traditionally revolved around the legal rights to the strategically crucial Caspian, though discussions this year…

On the heels of another significant investment in Central Asian infrastructure, the World Bank doled out an additional $200m to assist Uzbekistan Railways in the construction of a railway line that will traverse Kamchik pass in eastern Uzbekistan. The Bank is working hand in glove with Uzbek authorities in order to develop better rail infrastructure…

The resignation of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Igor Tenyukh was accepted in the wake of the Ukrainian Military’s complete withdrawal from Crimea. The ouster of Tenyukh comes as no surprise given the tumultuous state of Ukrainian military affairs that was exemplified by the inability of the military to resist Russian when it moved to usurp Ukrainian…

India’s northwestern region of Jammu and Kashmir is home to more than 50,000 unemployed college graduates, 11,000 of which have already completed graduate or postdoctoral work. According  to India’s National Conference and Congress, there has been little change since a 2008 report was released detailing the crisis and establishing a blue print for the alleged…