Author: Meder Israilov

China and Tajikistan on Friday announced the elevation of ties to comprehensive strategic partnership in the new era during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ongoing state visit to Tajikistan, injecting new momentum and opening up a new chapter in bilateral ties and common development of the two countries. The visit, which saw Xi award Tajik President Emomali Rahmon the Friendship Medal of the People’s Republic of China and the issuing of a joint statement detailing the blueprint for bilateral cooperation, is seen as a landmark event, underscoring the high-quality development and the elevation of bilateral ties led by head-of-state diplomacy, analysts said. It showed that the…

Europe’s new “Iron Lady”, Estonia’s Kaja Kallas, is one of the strongest voices for an uncompromising stand against belligerent Russia. Brussels (30 June – 28). Having grown up under the Soviet occupation of Estonia, Kaja Kallas was urging EU leaders to take the Russian threat seriously long before the invasion of Ukraine On Saturday, the Reform Party chose climate minister Kristen Michal to replace outgoing Kaja Kallas, who is the EU’s new High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The unanimous decision to nominate Michal was made following a closed-door meeting by the party’s governing board only two days after…

On Wednesday May 29, the top Tajik diplomat Sirojiddin Muhriddin, heading a government delegation, participated in the Third Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs “Central Asia – Italy” in the C5+1 format, which took place in Rome. According to the Tajik MFA information department, the parties discussed the prospects for the expansion of cooperation between the countries of Central Asia and Italy in the political, economic, trade, water and energy, environmental protection, transport, tourism and educational sectors. They reportedly also exchanged views on a number of regional and international issues being of mutual interest, including current threats and challenges,…

Punishing hot weather affects not only a person’s health or work productivity but also affects couples’ fertility and birth outcomes, a project by the National University of Singapore (NUS) found. Rising temperatures could further reduce Singapore’s resident total fertility rate, which dipped below 1 – a record low – in 2023. The rate refers to the average number of babies each woman would have during her reproductive years. Researchers from the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine studied sperm samples from 818 men that were already stored at the National University Hospital’s (NUH) andrology section. The scientists then traced the men’s…

Tashkent 24/2/ (50). In Tajikistan, over 20% of the population lives in poverty, and millions of citizens have emigrated to Russia to find work. Meanwhile, a feudal elite under President Emomali Rahmon has ravaged the country with corruption, nepotism, and massive drug smuggling of Afghan heroin to Russia and Europe. Although Rahmon’s successor and son, Rustam Emomali, has been increasingly in the headlines, adopting a presidential look, his stiff and awkward appearance reveals a man seemingly afraid of his shadow. Sources inside the country’s security apparatus report that he is in conflict with his powerful sisters, including Ozada, the head…

There have been 30,601 confirmed cases of measles in Europe and Central Asia between January and 5 December 2023, up from 909 throughout 2022, marking a 3266 per cent increase in cases of the vaccine-preventable disease, warns UNICEF. Data also point to a more recent worsening trend as the rate of measles cases in Europe and Central Asia nearly doubled between October and November 2023. Cases in the region are expected to rise further due to gaps in immunity. “There is no clearer sign of a breakdown in immunisation coverage than an increase in cases of measles. Such a dramatic…

The United Nations (UN) praised the work of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic on the implementation of sustainable development goals, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan Jeenbek Kulubaev said during a press conference at Kabar News Agency. According to the UN report, Kyrgyzstan ranked 45th out of 166 countries, entering the list of 50 countries with a high percentage of implementation of the SDGs. The Sustainable Development Goals are a set of 17 goals and 169 targets for the international community to help eradicate poverty and inequality, achieve social inclusion, halt global climate change and build a…

The heads of the security services of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have dropped fresh hints that a border demarcation deal may be coming into focus, raising the prospect of an end to decades of violence-prone unease between the two nations. Kamchybek Tashiyev, the head of Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security, or GKNB, and his Tajik counterpart, Saimumin Yatimov, met on December 1 in the Tajik town of Buston for talks that reportedly produced “key decisions” on how to resolve differences over the border. In remarks to journalists following negotiations, Tashiyev spoke in vague generalities, although he ventured that “we are…

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Deutsche Welle Akademie (DWA) have submitted the case of the abusive attempt to liquidate the investigative website Kloop to the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC). The aim is to mobilise its fifty member states, from six continents, to denounce the judicial harassment that is emblematic of the repressive escalation against the media in Kyrgyzstan. With the Kyrgyz investigative media Kloop due to appear in court in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, again on 27 November, on absurd and abusive charges, RSF and the DWA are making an urgent referral of this emblematic case to the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) –…

Kazakhstan’s renewable energy sector has been evolving for over a decade, gradually becoming more prominent in the country’s energy landscape. Kazakhstan ratified the Paris Climate Change Agreement and adopted the Carbon Neutrality Strategy by 2060, indicating a strong commitment to sustainable practices. The government is engaged in several significant international projects in renewable energy. According to the Ministry of Energy, the country currently hosts 133 renewable energy facilities. These include 48 wind power stations with a total capacity of 1,107.5 megawatts (MW), 43 solar power stations with a capacity of 1,148 MW, 39 hydropower stations with a combined capacity of…