Author: Sabira Kadyrov

Hong Kong’s government will be able to proceed with making a protest song illegal under the city’s national security laws after winning a court challenge. The High Court had last year rejected the government’s request for Glory to Hong Kong to be banned, saying it would have “chilling effects” on free speech. But on Wednesday an appeal court overturned that ruling. The move is likely to deepen concerns about freedoms being further eroded in the city. Amnesty International said the government’s ban was “as ludicrous as it is dangerous”. The US, meanwhile, said it was “the latest blow to the…

Tajikistan’s existential project to build the colossal 335-meter-high Roghun hydropower dam is proceeding apace, but costs are spiraling, and to a level that is making it hard to see where the government is going to find the funds needed to finish the work. To complicate matters for Dushanbe, this is happening against the backdrop of calls from environmental watchdogs for international development lenders to pause the allocation of any future funds to Tajikistan pending a fresh assessment of the project. The extent of the budget overshoot is striking. In a press conference on February 16, Finance Minister Faiziddin Kahhorzoda revealed…

Dubai (27/2) Tajikistan’s existential project to build the colossal 335-meter-high Roghun hydropower dam is proceeding apace, but costs are spiralling, and to a level that is making it hard to see where the government is going to find the funds needed to finish the work. To complicate matters for Dushanbe, this is happening against the backdrop of calls from environmental watchdogs for international development lenders to pause the allocation of any future funds to Tajikistan pending a fresh assessment of the project. The extent of the budget overshoot is striking. In a press conference on February 16, Finance Minister Faiziddin…

Berlin (2/3 – 62.50). Lt. Gen. Alfons Mais says the €100 billion committed by the government last year is insufficient. Meanwhile, an association representing soldiers says the Bundeswehr turnaround needs to speed up. Germany would have to spend more money on its armed forces if it wants it fully equipped, army chief Lieutenant General Alfons Mais said on Sunday. He told the German news agency, dpa, the €100 billion ($107 billion) to speed up the modernization of the armed forces promised by Chancellor Olaf Scholz after Russia invaded Ukraine was not enough. Mais, caused a stir last year when he criticized what he described…

PA President’s son Tareq Abbas also holds positions in other ventures incorporated by offshore company. Leaked documents from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca reveal Tareq Abbas, son of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, holds shares worth nearly $1 million in an offshore company with ties to the Palestinian Authority. The documents, leaked as part of the massive ‘Panama Papers’ scandal, show that a company called the Arab Palestinian Investment Company (APIC) was registered in September 1994 in the British Virgin Islands. Since then, the company’s economic portfolio has grown substantially, and is active in virtually every Palestinian economic sphere, including…

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the Fifty-Sixth Session of the Subcommission on Illicit Drug Traffic and Related Matters in the Near and Middle East, which was held on November 21-24 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The Iranian delegation announced readiness to share their experiences in the fight against drug trafficking with Kyrgyzstan. Regional and international cooperation to reduce the cultivation and production of narcotics and psychoactive drugs; the promotion of alternative development; conducting financial investigations on drug trafficking cases; explaining the role of digital currencies in trafficking and the resulting money laundering; dealing with illegal production of various precursor…

Speaking at the World Climate Summit in Dubai as part of the UN Climate Change Conference, the country’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev supported the UN call for concrete actions aimed at preserving the environment for future generations, and said that his country will contribute to the comprehensive adaptation of “green” technologies in almost every sector of the national economy. The Climate Summit traditionally brings together the heads of state and government of the world and discusses the most pressing climate issues of all humanity. The peculiarity of the current meeting is that Central Asia is represented at it precisely as a…

Minister of Education and Science of Kyrgyzstan Dogdurkul Kendirbaeva met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Turkey to Kyrgyzstan Ahmet Sadik Dogan and the President of Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) of the country Abdullah Eren, Azernews reports, citing 24.kg News Agency. Dogdurkul Kendirbaeva noted the strengthening of cooperation in the field of education and proposed considering the possibility of organizing two-week training courses in Turkey to improve the qualifications of teachers teaching STEAM subjects. She also raised the issue of translating Turkish books on STEAM subjects into the Kyrgyz language and adapting them for the Kyrgyz Republic. «Representatives of…

Brussels (3/12) Governments may be doing great while the people suffer. Bombing of the Nordstream 2 pipeline, carrying cheap Russian natural gas to industry and consumers in Europe, is exerting a cascading effect on companies and employment, eventually to be reflected in rising places and sharpening inflation. Russia is steadily experiencing price increases for a variety of goods and services, Russian media report. Is there obviously not a link to the sanctions placed on Russia and the seizure of Russian funds and savings abroad? Punishment for Russia’s “Special Military Operation” to purportedly protect Russian-speaking citizens in eastern Ukraine from state…

MP Aida Isatbek kyzy initiated amendments to the legislation on medical activities and activities in the sphere of circulation of medicines. The bill has been submitted for public discussion, Azernews reports, citing 24.kg News Agency. In particular, the Criminal Code is amended to toughen the punishment for illegally conducting experiments on humans, which caused significant harm by negligence. At present, it is punishable by a fine from 200,000 to 500,000 calculated rates (20,000-50,000 soms) with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or community service from 40 to 100 hours. The initiator proposes to increase fines to 3,000-5,000 calculated…