index central asia
[Link] Kazakhstan president proposes reforms to limit his powers
Read: 3/4/2022 www.aljazeera.com
Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has proposed constitutional reforms to limit the powers of his office, saying the country needed to switch from “superpresidential” rule to a presidential republic with a strong parliament.
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[Link] State of emergency declared in Kazakh capital as protests escalate
Read: 5/1/2022 www.abc.net.au
Protesters in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, have stormed the presidential residence and mayor's office and set both buildings on fire, according to news reports, as demonstrations sparked by a rise in LPG prices in the Central Asian nation escalated sharply.
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[Link] Inside a Booming Black Market for Heroin in the Shadow of the Himalayas
Read: 19/11/2021 www.vice.com
We spoke to a dealer who dodges Indian soldiers and checkpoints to sell drugs in the world’s most militarised zone. Srinagar, KASHMIR – Javed has been looking over his shoulder more often than he'd like.
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[Link] Facebook lets Kazakh govt directly flag harmful content, joint statement says
Read: 4/11/2021 www.reuters.com
ALMATY, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Facebook owner Meta Platforms (FB.O) has granted the Kazakh government access to its content reporting system, after the Central Asian nation threatened to block the social network for millions of local users.
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[Link] The Taliban Have a Growing ISIS-K Problem
Read: 2/11/2021 www.vice.com
The Taliban face a growing insurgency from ISIS-K, a jihadist group inspired by Islamic State and founded by former Taliban fighters in early 2015.
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[Link] Afghan embassies don’t recognise the Taliban
Read: 19/10/2021 www.economist.com
THE TALIBAN prevent girls from going to secondary school in Afghanistan. Yet the country’s ambassador to America is a woman. That is not because the group has decided that women’s rights are a good thing after all. It is just that they cannot replace her.
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[Link] 900 Detained After Seven ‘Targeted Killings’ in the World’s Most Militarized Zone
Read: 11/10/2021 www.vice.com
Teachers. A principal. And a well-known pharmacist. They were all shot dead in broad daylight last week in India-controlled Kashmir, heightening fear in the world’s most militarized zone.
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[Link] Afghanistan Fears Literal Darkness As Taliban Fails to Pay Electric Bills
Read: 5/10/2021 www.vice.com
There are fears Kabul could face a mass blackout, and a subsequent humanitarian crisis, if the Taliban don’t start collecting money for utility bills and paying the city’s electricity suppliers.
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