Author: Manzura Ghaffarova

Kazakhstan aims to boost output of metals needed for electric vehicle (EV) batteries and is issuing hundreds of new exploration licences to attract fresh investment in the sector, the country’s industry minister told Reuters. The former Soviet republic promotes itself as a dependable supplier of the majority of critical materials outlined by the European Union, at a time when Russia has threatened to curb exports and China is tightening control over rare earths. Kazakhstan has signed deals with the European Union and Britain on the supply of critical minerals. “People know that Kazakhstan is very reliable… We’ve been supplying markets for a very long time,”…

Iran holds a pivotal role in bridging the geographically closed Central Asian region with the Middle East, South Asia, and the Caucasus, as well as Europe. As Uzbekistan’s economic growth intensifies, broadening its reach to export markets is necessary. As the country diversifies its trade routes, there has been a particular emphasis on the southern direction via Iran. After a long pause, Tashkent restarted political dialogue with Tehran in 2017, with a specific focus on the transport and transit aspects of bilateral engagement. This strategic alignment is deliberate, as Iran’s close proximity and harbors ensure swift access for Uzbek cargo…

The successful phasing-out of gas imports from Russia risks making Europe dependent on liquified natural gas (LNG) imports, according to a report published by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) today (June 24). Between 2021 and 2022, LNG imports increased from 80 billion cubic meters (bcm) to 120 bcm — reflecting an increase from 22% to 34% of total gas imports including from Russia and pipeline — according to the ECA. By 2023, the largest LNG global exporters to the EU were Norway (30%), the US (19.4%) and North Africa (14.1%), Russia was still responsible for 6.1% of LNG imports alongside 8.7% via pipeline,…

Dubai/Astana (10 June – 60). The Pamiris are an ethnic minority group in Tajikistan, culturally distinct from the majority Tajik population. They have faced persecution and discrimination in their mountain homeland bordering Afghanistan that some experts say amounts to ethnic cleansing and even genocide. One of the lead persecutors is Ministry of Internal Affairs “Maj. Gen.” Shorukh Syedzada, a former football team manager with no law enforcement experience and a confidante of the president’s son and heir designate. The Pamiris continue to be marginalized and oppressed by the authorities. As a result, many Pamiris have been forced to flee their…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s itinerary for his unscheduled visit to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, remains undisclosed. In an unannounced visit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky lands in Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday, and gets greeted by Saudi officials, including the national security advisor and ambassador to Kiev, according to reports by the official Saudi Press Agency. As of now, no details regarding Zelensky’s itinerary have been made public. In recent weeks, Zelensky has been on a global tour to garner support and encourage attendance for an upcoming summit in Switzerland this weekend. His travels have included visits to traditional European Union allies, as well as countries in…

The head of Britain’s domestic intelligence agency warned the country’s leading research universities on Thursday that foreign states are targeting their institutions and imperiling national security. “We know that our universities are being actively targeted by hostile actors and need to guard against the threat posed to frontier research in the most sensitive sectors,” said the deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden, who also attended the briefing. The threat requires “further measures,” said the deputy PM, who announced that the government was launching a consultation with the sector so it could “do more to support our universities and put the right…

All men in Russia are required to do a year-long military service, or equivalent training during higher education, from the age of 18. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree setting out the routine spring conscription campaign, calling up 150,000 citizens for statutory military service, a document posted on the Kremlin’s website showed on Sunday (31 March). All men in Russia are required to do a year-long military service, or equivalent training during higher education, from the age of 18. In July Russia’s lower house of parliament voted to raise the maximum age at which men can be conscripted to 30…

DUSHANBE — Exorcism is a key source of income for Sabohiddin Shodiev, a popular cleric in his rural community on the outskirts of Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. Shodiev — not his real name — says that every week he treats about 15 clients who ask him to expel what they believe is an evil spirit, or jinni, possessing them, or to rid them from “an evil eye.”The 53-year-old cleric has been practicing exorcisms — which he learned to do from his father — for more than two decades. Most of Shodiev’s clients come from Dushanbe and nearby districts, but…

French MEP Valérie Hayer will become the new president of Renew Europe with “overwhelming consensus” after current interim President Malik Azmani failed to gather enough support following widespread worries about his party’s involvement with coalition talks with the far-right in the Netherlands. Though the formal election will be on Thursday (25 January) at 8 am, hers is the only official candidacy. As such, she will be elected by acclamation, just like her predecessor Stéphane Séjourné, who left the group’s presidency to become France’s new foreign affairs minister. The formal announcement of Hayer’s candidacy was confirmed to Euractiv by a Renew…

The proposed law, which has been endorsed by the French far right, faces its biggest test yet on Thursday A controversial new French immigration bill which has sparked popular protests will come before the country’s Constitutional Council on Thursday. On Sunday, tens of thousands of people took to the streets to demonstrate against President Emmanuel Macron’s legislation, which the National Assembly passed last month by 349 votes to 186. Critics say it bears all the hallmarks of the far-right. Despite the bill’s hefty margin of success, 27 members of Macron’s governing coalition voted against the bill – and another 32 abstained. In…