Author: Abu Huhalla

The country’s most important archaeological find has been compared to Machu Picchu. Here’s how to see it At first glance, it doesn’t look like much, just a rectangular meadow in the Pamir foothills of central Tajikistan. But there was a time when this ground reverberated with the thunder of hooves. Occupying a broad saddle, high above the mighty Panj River, this meadow is believed to be an ancient arena for the Central Asian sport of buzkashi, or dead goat polo. The playing field was a centerpiece of a once sprawling settlement, a political and religious capital inhabited for centuries but since lost to…

Frankfurt (3/12 – 12) The relatively rapid cohesion of disparate nations, historically competitive or even at war with one another, into the European Union came about in part because of the ongoing threat from the Soviet Union. The specter of a tank invasion from Warsaw Pact nations, today forgotten, was such a reality that the German government kept a major portion of its gold bullion across the Atlantic. The USSR, an ally in World War II after being double-crossed by Hitler – remember the “Non-Aggression Pact signed in Moscow by von Ribbentrop and Molotov – was soon appraised as a…

Protesters in Lebanon have rallied in front of the central bank to demand the removal of capital controls that prevent them from withdrawing their savings and for the bank’s governor to be held accountable for the worsening economic crisis. Angry Lebanese who rallied in the capital, Beirut, on Friday said that while politicians were able to move large sums of money outside the country, they had been left to pay for the crisis. “People are tired and frustrated. They’ve been taking to the streets for four years now,” Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut, said. “Many do not believe they’ll…

The resolution will see International Court of Justice give opinion on Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory. The United Nations General Assembly has passed a resolution calling on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to give an opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territories. The General Assembly voted 87 to 26 with 53 abstentions on the resolution, with Western nations split but with virtually unanimous support in the Islamic world – including among Arab states that have normalised relations with Israel. Russia and China voted in favour of the resolution. Israel, the US and 24 other members –…

Community, angry that most Jewish Israelis didn’t defend its rights during decades of discrimination, feels it doesn’t have a place in rallies featuring generals as speakers. Amal Oraby is usually a fixture at street protests. But as hundreds of thousands of Israelis have demonstrated for months against the contentious government plan to overhaul the judiciary, Oraby is sitting this one out. An activist and lawyer, Oraby is one of the many Arab Israelis — many of whom refer to themselves as Palestinian citizens of Israel — who have stayed on the sidelines of some of the country’s largest and most…

Israel’s artistic swimmers won a  gold medal Friday at the European Games being held in Poland, in a victory hailed as being even more poignant, occurring “just 10 minutes from Auschwitz.” Israel won gold in the Team Free Routine Combination with Germany grabbing the silver medal and Turkey getting Bronze. Israeli Olympic Association Chairperson Yael Arad hailed the victory. Israel’s artistic swimmers won a gold medal Friday at the European Games being held in Poland, in a victory hailed as being even more poignant, occurring “just 10 minutes from Auschwitz.” Israel won gold in the Team Free Routine Combination with…

Basketball fans in crisis-hit Lebanon find much-needed joy and hope through the national team’s journey to this month’s FIBA World Cup. Beirut, Lebanon – It’s August 2022 and Lebanon are two points up on the Philippines with 18 seconds left in the game at a packed Nouhad Naufal Stadium in a Beirut suburb, when the ball spills out to Wael Arakji on the left – giving him the chance to sink a game-sealing three-pointer. If the shot goes in, it will not only guarantee the win but will also help secure Lebanon’s ticket to the 2023 FIBA World Cup taking place this August and September.…

Reclusive Turkmenistan, one of the world’s most closed countries and a top methane emitter, said Monday that it would create a commission to reduce leaks of the potent planet heating gas. Methane emissions generate around 30 percent of global warming and scientific reports have found that the gas-rich Central Asian state’s output is colossal. The decision would be important for the world’s climate and came as an unexpected announcement from an authoritarian country that is largely shut off from the world. It was signed by President Serdar Berdymukhamedov, who took over as president last year from his father Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov. The…

Information technologies (IT) have become an integral part of people’s lives and they have a huge potential to serve as a tool for driving social change including empowering women and girls who face challenges originating from stereotypes and prejudices. Against this backdrop, IT specialists, representatives from IT companies and hubs, and UN Women officials from across Central Asia came together on May 24 for an online panel discussion on the role of IT in empowering women across different cultural contexts. Hosted by EPAM with support from UN Women, the webinar offered a space to discuss how IT can be…

A group of 13 member states, including Croatia, sent a letter to the European Commission in which they express concern about the measures it has recently adopted to appease the dissatisfaction of members bordering Ukraine due to excessive imports of Ukrainian grains. Some of the five member states bordering Ukraine unilaterally banned imports of Ukrainian grain in April, saying cheap Ukrainian grain threatened their farmers’ incomes. The Commission responded to this with a proposal for aid of 100 million euros to the farmers of those countries and a temporary ban on Ukrainian grain to those countries, except for transit to…