Showing posts with label Central Asia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Central Asia. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 29, 2026

An 11-year-old British girl is now the youngest woman grandmaster in chess history. Really!

Makes me wonder how many adults are still playing chess?

"... She earned the title at the Olympiad in Uzbekistan last week, beating a record held by two 12-year-olds"

Tuesday, September 29, 2026 - Join The Flyover



Bodhana Sivanandan started playing chess when she came across a board during the COVID pandemic


Saturday, August 22, 2026

The Fight for Afghanistan Isn’t Over

When will there ever be peace and prosperity again in Afghanistan?

"The modern history of war in Afghanistan spans over four decades of foreign intervention and internal civil conflict, beginning with the 1979 Soviet invasion [ending in 1989], transitioning through civil war [1989-2001] and the rise of the Taliban, and concluding with the 2001–2021 U.S.-led war." (Google Search)

The Fight for Afghanistan Isn’t Over "As armed opposition groups intensify attacks amid Taliban divisions, Lt. Gen. Sami Sadat explains in an exclusive interview why his forces have begun combat operations—and what comes next."

Sunday, August 16, 2026

Five Years Into the Taliban’s War on Women. Really!

This seems to be one of the subjects du jour! It was repeated all over the news media in recent weeks or so!

Why don't the women in Afghanistan not go on a sex strike? Sometimes women's rights have to be attained by persistent non violent protest, strikes, debates etc. by women. If Afghan women desire more liberty and rights they have to do something about it.

"The most famous fictional example is the ancient Greek play Lysistrata by Aristophanes, written in 411 B.C.E., where women stage a sex strike to force their men to end the Peloponnesian War.
In real life, a famous historical instance occurred in 2003, when Liberian women led by Leymah Gbowee used a sex strike alongside protests to force warlords to negotiate an end to a brutal civil war." (Google Search)

"... Here is what they inherited and destroyed. Between 2001 and 2021, Afghan women did not wait for anyone’s permission to become people. We became judges, close to 270 of them, ruling in courts that would not have let us testify a generation earlier. We [women] became members of parliament, provincial officials, ministers, generals. We built businesses, newsrooms, clinics, schools. I built mine, a media career and a company that let me walk into rooms my own mother was never allowed to enter, rooms I still remember the first time I sat in them, understanding exactly what it had taken to get there ...

Senior Taliban officials, negotiators, ministers, the men who signed the decrees banning Afghan girls from school, have spent the last five years quietly enrolling their own daughters in schools and universities in Doha and Peshawar. One of the men who helped design the architecture of Afghan women’s erasure has a daughter who became a doctor abroad, trained in the exact profession his government forbids Afghan girls at home from ever pursuing. ...

Their financial conduct tells the same story. A movement that claims religious purity as its governing logic has spent five years entangled in the opium and methamphetamine trade, in mineral deals with China cut behind closed doors, and in a mining economy worth an estimated one to three trillion dollars that flows almost entirely to a small circle of men from a handful of provinces, while the country they govern ranks among the hungriest on earth. Call it what you want. I call it a mafia that memorized scripture. ..."

Five Years Into the Taliban’s War on Women "Under armed occupation, gender apartheid [???] has become the governing order in Afghanistan—and the world is increasingly learning to live with it."

Friday, June 05, 2026

Direct flights between Hong Kong and Uzbekistan to launch this year, sources say

Hong Kong never ceases to amaze me! I recently visited Hong Kong!

"... The new route follows close on the heels of Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific’s plan to launch a service to Almaty in Kazakhstan in the first quarter of next year, one of the outcomes of Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s official visit to the region. ..."

Direct flights between Hong Kong and Uzbekistan to launch this year, sources say | South China Morning Post "Direct flights between Hong Kong and Tashkent to start as talks begin on reciprocal 30-day visa-free stay agreement to boost trade, tourism and regional ties"

Monday, April 27, 2026

Mongolia courts Kazakhstan, seeks path between China and Russia

Good news! Better relationships between Central Asian/Stan countries?

"For a country that sends nearly all of its exports to China and depends almost entirely on Russia for fuel imports, finding a third direction has never been straightforward, but Mongolia is looking west to Kazakhstan. ..."

Mongolia courts Kazakhstan, seeks path between China and Russia - Nikkei Asia (behind paywall) "President makes first state visit to Astana in 20 years, setting in motion raft of deals"


Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh, right, met with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana last week, in the first state visit from a leader of the country to Kazakhstan in 20 years.



Tuesday, March 10, 2026

Uzbekistan's Uzum valuation leaps over 50% in 7 months to $2.3B

Good news!

"Uzbekistan fintech Uzum has reached a $2.3 billion valuation — about 53% higher than just seven months ago — as investors place growing bets on the country’s emerging digital economy.

The valuation stems from a $131.5 million investment led by sovereign wealth funds from Oman, with participation from existing investors, including Tencent, VR Capital, and FinSight Ventures. ...

Uzbekistan, Central Asia’s most populous country, emerges as one of the region’s fastest-growing digital economies, driven by a young population, rapid smartphone adoption, and low [fast] penetration of online retail and banking services. ..."

Uzbekistan's Uzum valuation leaps over 50% in 7 months to $2.3B | TechCrunch



Disclaimer:
I am currently blogging from behind the Great Firewall of China.
My Internet service in China is very spotty. Thus, I am not able to blog as usual.

Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Inside Uzbekistan's nationwide license plate and car occupants surveillance system

Is this part of the future? Automated traffic violations enforcement?

How often are these records deleted or how long are they retained? Who monitors?

Do we want government to be able to know all the time where we are going? Orwellian? The Road to Serfdom?

Caveat: I did not read the article.

Inside Uzbekistan's nationwide license plate surveillance system | TechCrunch "Across Uzbekistan, a network of about a hundred banks of high-resolution roadside cameras continuously scan vehicles’ license plates and their occupants, sometimes thousands a day, looking for potential traffic violations. Cars running red lights; drivers not wearing their seatbelts; and unlicensed vehicles driving at night, to name a few."

Thursday, November 06, 2025

Trump confirms Kazakhstan has become first country to join Abraham Accords in second term

Good news! President Trump, peacemaker and bridge builder!

Trump confirms Kazakhstan has become first country to join Abraham Accords in second term | Just The News ""This is a major step forward in building bridges across the World," Trump posted on Truth Social. "Today, more Nations are lining up to embrace Peace and Prosperity through my Abraham Accords.""

Saturday, October 18, 2025

Tuesday, September 23, 2025

Trump announces $4B railroad deal with Kazakhstan

Good news! The Art of the Deal! But why does a US president have to be involved in this foreign government procurement/private business deal?

"President Donald Trump on Monday announced that he had reached an agreement with the Kazakh government for a $4 billion purchase of railroad equipment.

"I just concluded a wonderful call with the Highly Respected President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Kemeluly Tokayev," Trump posted on Truth Social. "They have signed the largest Railroad Equipment Purchase in History, $4 Billion Dollars Worth of United States Locomotives and Rail Equipment." ..."

Trump announces $4B railroad deal with Kazakhstan | Just The News "Kazakhstan is the largest country in Central Asia and borders both Russia and China."




Monday, September 08, 2025

Afghan Hackers Refuse to Log Off bringing their country into the digital age

Some young Afghans are trying to modernise Afghanistan. Unfortunately, some them are doing it while living in exile.

Caveat: I did not read the whole article.

"When Afghan software developer Ahmad Zia Yousufi talks about hacking, he doesn’t mean breaking into systems. For him, hackathons—intense competitions where coders build solutions in 48 hours or less—are a way to test ideas and push boundaries.

“Hackathon is a hobby for me,” he said. “It’s fun, but it’s also about proving that Afghan talent can compete globally.”

Yousufi, now based in Germany, is part of a generation of young Afghans who tried to push their country into the digital age before the Taliban’s 2021 takeover. His journey, with its mix of entrepreneurial success and devastating setbacks, mirrors Afghanistan’s troubled relationship with technology and education. ..."

Afghan Hackers Refuse to Log Off - by Ahmad Mansoor Ramizy "After the Taliban takeover forced the closure of his startup, Afghan software developer Ahmad Zia Yousufi now works from exile to keep Afghan youth—especially women—connected to the digital world."

Tuesday, September 02, 2025

China Has Flooded Central Asia With Electric Cars—the Impact Will Be Long-Lasting

Look who is buying and reexporting electric cars!

According to Google: "The population of Central Asia is estimated to be over 82 million people as of 2024"

"Last year, every fifth car sold in the world was electric. China is leading the charge: every tenth car on the country’s roads is electric, and it accounted for 40 percent of global electric car exports in 2024. 

While the West is using customs duties to try to head off an influx of Chinese electric cars, the countries of Central Asia have taken the opposite approach and are doing everything they can to welcome them.

Despite the geographical proximity, Chinese brands were not always so popular in Central Asia. As recently as in 2020, China supplied just $750 million worth of cars to all five Central Asian countries put together. These were mainly used cars with internal combustion engines.
But by 2024, that figure had soared to almost $10 billion, of which $1.1 billion were electric cars. Now cars account for about 10 percent of all Chinese exports to Central Asia. ...

There are over 100 cars per 1,000 people in all of the Central Asian states except for Tajikistan. Kazakhstan is even catching up with Russia, with 308 cars per 1,000 people compared to Russia’s 331.

Central Asia also plays a role as a reexporter of cars to the Russian market, which saw an exodus of Western companies after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It’s more expensive for Chinese exporters to supply cars directly to Russia than Central Asia, since customs duties are three times lower in Kyrgyzstan, for example. As a result, Kyrgyzstan, which has no automobile industry of its own, has since 2022 become the second-largest supplier of cars to Russia after China. ..."

China Has Flooded Central Asia With Electric Cars—the Impact Will Be Long-Lasting | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace "By entering this new stage of development of the automotive industry via Chinese electric cars, Central Asia will eventually be forced to adopt Chinese standards for the industry’s development, integrating into the Chinese tech ecosystem and leaving no room for competition."