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Pakistani children die as bus explodes

Sat, 25 May 2013 06:09:26 -0400

At least 17 children have died in eastern Pakistan following an explosion on a school bus. Other children were also injured when a faulty gas cylinder on board the bus exploded. The incident occurred on the outskirts of the city of Gujrat, which is located about 200km southeast of the capital, Islamabad. Police have confirmed the children were on their way to school when the bus was ...

Azerbaijan not to join NATO

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:10:03 -0400

Azerbaijan will join neither NATO nor the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), but is prepared to cooperate with both, a presidential aide said. "As Azerbaijan has been participating in NATO's Partnership for Peace programme since 1995, we envision our future security model within the framework of the Non-Aligned Movement," said Ali Gasanov, head of the presidential ...

Baku expands role in Turkish economy

Sat, 25 May 2013 13:11:37 -0400

By Vladimir Socor On March 22 in Copenhagen, the Danish and Turkish prime ministers, Helle Thorning-Schmidt and Recep Tayyp Erdogan, witnessed the signing of agreements between subsidiaries of Danish Moeller-Maersk and Azerbaijan's State Oil Company (SOCAR) to develop a giant port near Izmir in Turkey. The petrochemicals holding Petrokimya (Petkim), majority-owned by SOCAR, is ...

The right fare in Azerbaijan

Sat, 25 May 2013 13:11:37 -0400

importing of 1,000 London taxis to Baku, the construction of an international bus station, and a lucrative road-construction project. The group has received preferential treatment and the interlinked companies owned by the families have taken large shares or even monopolized certain transportation sectors like bus transport, taxis, road construction, and cargo-transportation services in the ...

Turkmen Capital Hits Guinness Book of Records

Sat, 25 May 2013 10:32:25 -0400

ASHGABAT, May 25 (RIA Novosti) – Turkmen capital of Ashgabat has been included in the Guinness Book of Records for the highest density of white marble buildings in the city. The edition’s chief editor Craig Glendale travelled to the former Soviet country to present the certificate on Saturday to the city’s mayor of Ashgabat. The certificate names Ashgabat as the most ...

Kyrgyz officials take cultural wrong turn

Sat, 25 May 2013 10:09:10 -0400

experiences, and confront the topic of sexual violence. Since American Eve Ensler wrote the play in 1996, it has been performed in over 140 countries and translated into 48 languages. A performance is scheduled for April 12 in Bishkek. The Culture Ministry sent a letter to local media outlets on April 1 saying the Vagina Monologues advocates "unnatural, perverted sex under the slogan of ...

Russia multiplies gas routes to Europe

Sat, 25 May 2013 08:05:36 -0400

By Vladimir Socor Russian President Vladimir Putin and Gazprom are announcing colossal plans to expand the capacities of existing gas export pipelines and build new ones, all in Europe beyond Russia's territory. Gazprom already co-owns and controls export pipeline capacities amounting to some 110 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year in Europe beyond Russia (Nord Stream One and Two, ...

Colombian senator congratulates Azerbaijan on Republic Day

Sat, 25 May 2013 07:36:41 -0400

Member of the Committee for External Relations and National Defense of the Senate of Colombia Alexandra Moreno Pirakivi has sent a letter to the Azerbaijani embassy in Mexico on occasion of 28 May, Republic Day of Azerbaijan and 90th anniversary of national leader Heydar Aliyev. "I wish that this date will mark beginning of a new stage, equal in for importance to the formation of Azerbaijan ...

Tajikistan Blocks YouTube After Dancing President Video

Sat, 25 May 2013 07:23:59 -0400

Tajikistan blocked YouTube for the third time in less than a year without an official explanation, a representative of the country’s internet industry said Saturday. The ban was ordered by the governmental Communications Service, Asomiddin Atoyev, who heads the association of the country’s internet service providers, told RIA Novosti. The orders came by email or text message, ...

Chemical plant explosion kills one injures three in Inner Mongolia

Sat, 25 May 2013 04:29:21 -0400

HOHHOT, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Fire fighters on Sunday morning put out the blaze in a chemical plant in north China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, which has caused one dead and three others injured.The accident happened around 5 p.m. Saturday at Inner Mongolia 3F Fluorochemical Co. Ltd. in the city of Fengzhen. A huge amount of flammable gas has been leaked after the chemical plant caught ...

Ukraine looks to Turkmenistan

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:23 -0400

By Roman Muzalevsky On February 12, Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych paid a three-day visit to gas-rich Turkmenistan to sign a memorandum of understanding on energy cooperation and reiterate Kiev's interest in resuming direct imports of the Central Asian country's natural gas, which were suspended in 2006. The visit revealed Kiev and Ashgabat's strong desire to reduce ...

Xi may hold key to Moscow gas goals

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:23 -0400

By Sergie Blagov Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich traveled to China on February 25 to attend a first meeting of the bilateral intergovernmental commission on energy cooperation. The commission was formed in December 2012 to replace the bilateral Russia-China energy dialogue. Dvorkovich held talks with his Chinese counterpart, Vice Premier Wang Qishan, to discuss ties in the ...

Kazakhstan-Korea trade changes shape

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:23 -0400

By Richard Weitz Kazakhstan has become South Korea's (also known as the Republic of Korea - ROK) main economic partner in Central Asia, and powerful complementarities exist between Astana's desire for foreign capital and technologies, especially in order to develop its infrastructure and new high-technology sectors, and Seoul's need for natural resources, particularly energy and ...

Tajikistan regions still at war

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:23 -0400

By Shavkat Kasymov Fifteen years have passed since a peace agreement which ended a five-year long civil war in Tajikistan. Fought between regional groups and the national government of president Rahmon Nabiyev, the conflict killed between 50,000 and 100,000 and displaced more than a million. Presidential elections scheduled for the fall offer an opportunity to reflect on the disastrous ...

Kazakhstan seeks wider horizons

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:23 -0400

By Sergei Gretsky Kazakhstan is well known for the successful transformation of its economy following independence more than 20 years ago, and the leadership has consistently set ambitious goals to solidify the gains and diversify the economy to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The year 2012 ended on a high note - the 2012-2013 Global Competitiveness Report by the World Economic ...

Sino-Kazakh ties on a roll

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:22 -0400

China have started using the new railway crossing of Altynkol-Khorgos. It is expected cargo transportation will reach 10 million tonnes in 2015 and 15 million tonnes in 2020. Industry observers expect the Korgas Pass, which now connects China and Kazakhstan by a railway, a highway and an oil pipeline, to handle 20 million tonnes of cargo per year by 2020 and 35 million tonnes per year by ...

Russias cash flight to gather momentum

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:22 -0400

By Pavel K Baev Last week marked the anniversary of the shocking performance staged by the Pussy Riot punk rock group in the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow. And this year saw a spectacular increase in the density of "patriotic" political noise silencing common sense in debates over such matters as separation of church and state, homosexual "propaganda" or the ...

Clashes challenge Azerbaijan strongman

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:22 -0400

increasingly vocal opposition, many believe Azerbaijan is in for a lot more political turmoil in the year to come. "The opposition political parties hope to expand their electoral base by using these protests and win the presidential election in October 2013," says Baxtiyar Haciyev, a member of the youth opposition movement Positive Change and a graduate of Harvard University. ...

Kyrgyzstan seeks to double its GDP

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:22 -0400

reforms and intends to spend US$13 billion to double gross domestic product (GDP) in five years, drawing on aid and investment to fund projects in agriculture, mining, transport, power and other sectors. Doubling the GDP will require an annual growth rate of at least 7%. Kyrgyzstan's GDP growth is projected at 8.5% in 2013, up to 7.5% in 2014, and up to 3.5% in 2015; inflation is ...

Nazarbayev brings in new blood

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:22 -0400

By Georgiy Voloshin Just two weeks into 2013, Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced the reorganization of the country's government. On January 16, he ordered the establishment of a new ministry in charge of regional development whose head, Bakhytzhan Sagintayev, had previously led the day-to-day activities of the ruling Nur Otan party in the capacity of its ...

Russia migrants kept to the shadows

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:21 -0400

By Tom Balmforth MOSCOW - Bek Takhirov knows all too well the problems that migrant workers face. The 38-year-old ethnic Uzbek came to Russia in 2004 and worked illegally, stacking cargo in a warehouse for alcoholic beverages. Two years ago, he completed a lengthy application for Russian citizenship in order to step out of the shadows. He now works legally in St Petersburg as a ...

Uzbekistan bids to save culture from popping

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:21 -0400

ensure students do not fall prey to supposedly subversive ideas. She's not thrilled about the task. "Students spend so much time playing games featuring violence, such as a [first-person shoot-'em-up] game called Counter-Strike, and chatting with complete strangers online. Parents don't seem to care, and the burden falls on us, poor teachers," Mahfuza told ...

... as Central Asia bracesfor militant returnees

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:21 -0400

By Jacob Zenn On December 4, 2012, the deputy chairman of Kazakhstan's National Security Committee, Kabdulkarim Abdikazymov, said that Jund al-Khilafa was a "real threat" to Kazakhstan's national security. Similarly, on November 26, 2012, the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Defense and Security of Kyrgyzstan, Tokon Mamytov, warned that "there might be ...

EU hopefuls face starkchoice on Customs Union

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:20 -0400

By Robert Coalson Moscow seems to be growing frustrated with Ukraine's efforts to pursue closer ties with the European Union while simultaneously seeking benefits reserved for members of the Russia-led Eurasian Customs Union (ECU). "You cannot be a little bit pregnant," Russian Foreign Ministry official Aleksandr Gorban said on January 1, referring to the choice facing ...

Afghanistan tries to lure investments

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:20 -0400

By Farangis Najibullah and Zarif Nazar Foreign forces are preparing to leave the country, capital is fleeing, and it's the Afghan government's job to stop it. To meet its objective, the Afghan Finance Ministry has drafted a package of incentives to assure companies and individual that their investments in Afghanistan will be safe after the expected withdrawal of Western troops ...

Russias gas grip worries US senator

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:20 -0400

By Margarita Assenova United States Senator Richard Lugar has urged the Obama administration to break Russia's energy monopoly in Europe and called on congress to lift limitations on deliveries of liquefied natural gas (LNG) deliveries to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies in Europe. His critical report, "Energy and Security from the Caspian to Europe", and ...

Rate of US-Russian nuke disarmament slows

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:20 -0400

By Carey L Biron WASHINGTON - Although the United States and Russia have massively reduced their collective number of nuclear weapons since the heyday of the Cold War, the rate of that reduction is slowing, the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) warned on Monday. Further, these two countries alone continue to account for more than 90% of the worlds total nuclear arsenal, 15 times the ...

Cold winds from Janaozen

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:20 -0400

By Alexandra Kazakova Last year's violence in the town of Janaozen has created a significantly more oppressive environment in Kazakhstan, according to human rights defenders and analysts interviewed by IWPR. The activists were attending a conference in Almaty on December 13, three days before the first anniversary of the bloodshed. On December 16, 2011, police shot dead at 16 people ...

Gazprom moves on helium demand

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:19 -0400

By John Helmer MOSCOW - Blimps long ago lost their value as a means of cargo transportation, military reconnaissance, or anti-aircraft defense; whilst the helium that fills them - more safely than the combustible hydrogen gas which brought down the Hindenburg in 1937 - is sharply increasing its value in other applications. But the United States, which is currently producing most of the ...

Russia plays alongwith Sakhalin pipeline project

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:19 -0400

By Sergei Blagov Russia's gas monopoly, Gazprom, has apparently ruled out the possibility of building a subsea Sakhalin-Japan natural gas pipeline. However, the continuation of talks on this ambitious project is thought to remain a valuable bargaining instrument in Russia's difficult negotiations with China on gas prices. On November 8, the head of Gazprom's representative ...

South Stream start riddle

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:19 -0400

By Ron Synovitz and Rikard JozwiakRussia's Gazprom said construction would begin last week on the underwater section of its South Stream pipeline, which will carry natural gas beneath the Black Sea and into the European Union. But is this really the case? Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller announced last month that the final investment decision for the project had been reached. Miller ...

Russia closes gates to Siberian gas city

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:19 -0400

By Claire Bigg Ever wanted to visit the northern Siberian city of Novy Urengoi, Russia's "gas capital"? You may have missed your chance. Novy Urengoi has slapped harsh new access restrictions on both Russians and foreigners, a dramatic move that has sparked mixed reactions. Officials say they want to protect the affluent city from unbridled immigration, a surge in crime ...

ONGC Videsh eyes stake in Kashagan

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:19 -0400

By Georgiy Voloshin On November 26, Kazakh media reported that the US oil company ConocoPhillips was planning to sell its 8.4% stake in Kazakhstan's Kashagan oil field on the Caspian Sea. In the context of continuously falling revenues (in the third quarter of 2012, ConocoPhillips lost about 14% of its profits, earning slightly over US$15 billion), its top managers decided to ...

ECO summit brings no change

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:18 -0400

By Anar Valiyev Last month, Baku hosted the 12th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO). The presidents of Azerbaijan, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, as well as the prime minister of Turkey attended the event. ECO was established in 1985 as a regional, inter-state economic organization for the countries of the Middle East and Central Asia. Seven new states - ...

A Wolfe loose as Miami meets Moscow

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:18 -0400

A Wolfe loose as Miami meets Moscow Back to Blood: A Novel by Tom Wolfe Reviewed by John Helmer MOSCOW - The value difference and profit opportunity between a genuine piece of art and a fake are so large there's no deterring entrepreneurial forgers. Until now, the cleverest schemes have, ethnically speaking, been the specialty of Englishmen, Americans, and well-known art auction ...

Ukraine imports gas from Europe

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:18 -0400

By Oleg Varfolomeyev As Russia refuses to cut gas prices for Ukraine and proceeds with its South Stream pipeline project - aimed at diminishing Gazprom's dependence on Ukrainian gas pipelines - Ukraine has announced plans to further cut Russian gas imports. Even more notably, Ukraine began buying gas from the German company RWE this month. The Ukrainian government believes this will ...

Crime pays in Kyrgyzstan

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:18 -0400

By Chris Rickleton BISHKEK - One morning last year in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Dilnoza awoke to find her brand-new Toyota Corolla missing. She knew immediately whom to call, and it wasn't her local police precinct. Dilnoza sought the help of a private security agency. And after six days of searching, the firm's operatives tracked down and recovered Dilnoza's car, which was ...

Russia-Uzbekistan rowjeopardizes bilateral ties

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:18 -0400

investigation, O'zdunorbita continuously violated national legislation by illicitly operating 48 base stations in various parts of the country, including 24 stations based out of Tashkent. On July 17, Uzbekistan's Communications Agency suspended the company's operating license for 10 days. On July 30, the Tashkent city court further extended this suspension for a period of ...

Kazakhstan wipes blood off the map

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:17 -0400

on October 27 and, if it passes the bureaucratic hurdles, would officially remove the name Zhanaozen from the map. Nurbol Telegenov, the head of the province's internal policies department, told RFE/RL's Kazakh Service that the final decision would be made in Astana. Hot topicTelegenov noted, however, that the proposal had already become a hot topic of discussion. ...

Tajikistans new roadsboost civil military links

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:17 -0400

By Mark Vinson On October 27, Tajikistan's President Emomalii Rahmon formally inaugurated the Shahriston tunnel along the Dushanbe-Khujand highway. The 5,253-meter tunnel cuts the time required to drive between the capital of Dushanbe and Tajikistan's second-largest city, Khujand (Leninabad), from eight to less than four hours. The Chinese-built project began six years ago and ...

China Russia and Obamas second coming

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:17 -0400

By M K Bhadrakumar Barack Obama's four-year second term in office as the president of the United States will be setting the tone of the final countdown on China's emergence as a superpower. The power dynamic in Asia-Pacific becomes a crucial template in this historic process. While the US can count on Japan and Australia as time-tested allies, its cogitations with China and ...

Kazakhstan US sign new energy plan

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:17 -0400

By Richard Weitz The latest meeting of the Kazakhstani-US Energy Partnership Commission took place in Washington on October 15-16, 2012. The two delegation heads, Kazakhstan's Minister of Oil and Gas Sauat Mynbayev and the US Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman, signed a Joint Action Plan for 2012 - 2013 that promotes cooperation in four broad categories: nuclear security and ...

Eid al-Adha a Russian holiday

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:17 -0400

Eid al-Adha, a Russian holiday? By Chris Monday Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their ...

All Central Asian roads lead to Muscovy

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:16 -0400

All Central Asian roads lead to Muscovy By Himar Arjun Singh Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say. Please ...

Russias Korea projects gather dust

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:16 -0400

By Stephen Blank In August 2011, Russia signed what appeared to be a momentous agreement with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea - DPRK), an accord that marked Kim Jong-il's last great foreign policy accomplishment. North Korea's Supreme Leader's last major foreign policy initiative was the August summit in Moscow, where he announced his willingness to ...

Tamerlane through Central Asian eyes

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:16 -0400

Tamerlane through Central Asian eyes The Legendary Biographies of Tamerlane: Islam and Heroic Apocrypha in Central Asia by Ron SelaReviewed by Dmitry Shlapentokh This well-researched book focuses on what seems to be a very narrow subject - the written history of Timur (Tamerlane), ruler of a vast Central Asian empire in the late 14th century, with Samarkand as the capital. Similar to ...

Gazprom closes on South Stream goal

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:16 -0400

By Margarita Assenova Russia is moving rapidly to start building the South Stream natural gas pipeline before the end of the year. On October 29, Serbia became the first Gazprom partner to announce its final investment decision on the construction of South Stream. Bulgaria will follow suit on November 9; Hungary and Slovenia are expected to adopt similar decisions by November 15. The ...

US Silk Road plans spin fragile thread

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:16 -0400

By Roman Muzalevsky The visit to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan this month of the US Special Representative for Global Intergovernmental Affairs, Reta Jo Lewis, to discuss Washington's vision of a "New Silk Road" across Central Asia comes ahead of the pull-out of coalition forces from Afghanistan in 2014. It also comes a year after the US launched the New Silk Road Strategy ...

Protest weary Kyrgyz turn to parliament

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:15 -0400

By Igor Rotar Despite the predictions of Kyrgyz and international analysts, a swift arrest and sentencing of the three Kyrgyzstani lawmakers who tried to capture the parliament building did not spark serious riots. On October 3, opposition party Ata-Jurt and parliamentary members Sadyr Zhaparov and Kamchibek Tashiyev galvanized a crowd of around 500 protesters in Bishkek who were ...

Russia struggles to drawTajikistan into Customs Union

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:15 -0400

By Sergei Blagov Russian officials have reiterated pledges to boost economic cooperation with Tajikistan. Meanwhile, the authorities in Dushanbe seem to remain hesitant on some issues, notably the country's possible membership in the Russian-led economic grouping, the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.When Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Tajikistan on ...

Syria Waiting for someone named Obama

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:17:15 -0400

Went to town Now, the intriguing part is that it was left to a third party to resort to shrill rhetoric - the United States. The State Department spokeswoman in Washington used harsh language to allege that Moscow was pursuing a "morally bankrupt" policy on Syria. Victoria Nuland said: "No responsible country ought to be aiding and abetting the war machine of the Assad ...

Kazakhstan to upgrade refinery production