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Central Asia
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Central Asia

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Central Asia
Central Asia
News from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan.
Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi (centre, back), along with representatives from Central Asian states, takes part in the Afghanistan-Central Asia Consultative Dialogue at the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Kabul on Sunday. Photo: AFP
Afghanistan

Afghanistan wants US$10 billion in trade deals with Central Asia

Central Asia’s typical trade routes through Russia are hampered by heavy sanctions, while the Taliban is trying to trade with the world despite international sanctions.

Diplomacy

Opinion | Why India is quietly deepening its engagement with the Taliban

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US, Israel war on Iran

Iran war and rogue drones force European aviation safety rethink

Art

9 artists to look out for at this year’s Art Basel Hong Kong

From Kazakh warrior sculptures to speculative films by Andrew Thomas Huang and Ayoung Kim, these are the artworks defining this year’s programme.

The Deer of Nine Colors by Andrew Thomas Huang. Photo: Handout
Hong Kong economy

Hong Kong firms face profit squeeze as US importers cut orders amid oil crisis

City’s business leaders also say government should bolster ties with Central Asia and Asean nations to diversify market risks.

US, Israel war on Iran

How long will US-Israel war on Iran last? Chinese analysts offer clues

Iran’s drones gaining edge as opponents burn through costly missiles, analysts note, as one labels the war a ‘serious mistake’ by US.

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Pakistan

Pakistan announces 5-day pause on Afghan strikes for Eid

The temporary ceasefire comes after Monday’s hospital strike, the deadliest in an escalating conflict between the two neighbours.

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An Afghan man walks next to the site where a drug rehabilitation centre was destroyed in an air strike in Kabul on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters
Afghanistan

‘People were burning’: 400 dead after Pakistan strikes hit Kabul hospital

Pakistan rejected the accusation, saying its air strikes on eastern Afghanistan did not hit any civilian sites.

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Mainland China

Beyond a ‘buffer zone’: how the Iran war is recalibrating Central Asian ties

The former Soviet republics are leveraging diplomatic fallout from conflict to assert autonomy and balance major powers, observers say.

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China trade

As Iran war hits trade hubs, China’s logistics firms rush for alternatives

Disrupted Middle East transit routes squeeze sector, pushing freight costs higher and pressuring supply chains.

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About half of China’s oil comes from the Middle East, underscoring the importance of the Strait of Hormuz (pictured, with anchored LPG gas tanker on Wednesday), which also serves as a crucial trade corridor for the country’s exports. Photo: Reuters
Food and Drinks

Why horse meat and nomadic tea rituals anchor this new eatery in Central

For the Kazakh founders of Yurt, opening the new Central Asian restaurant was written in the stars.

Yurt is championing Central Asian cuisine in Hong Kong. Photo: Jocelyn Tam
Iran

How far could the war with Iran spread beyond the Middle East?

From Turkey and the Caucasus to South Asia, analysts warn the war could ignite new flashpoints along regional fault lines.

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US, Israel war on Iran

Azerbaijan vows to respond after Iranian drones injure 4

Azerbaijan and Iran already have tense ⁠relations over Baku’s growing economic, energy and military ties to Turkey and Israel.

War and conflict

Opinion | Pakistan’s forever war and the politics of exhaustion

What Pakistan needs is not war with Afghanistan but urgent efforts to fix its economy, security and divided society after disruptive decades.

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People gather around the coffin of an army soldier, killed in the border clashes between Pakistani and Afghan forces, during a funeral prayer in a village in Lakki Marwat, a district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on February 28. Photo: AP
US, Israel war on Iran

China caught between Iran and Gulf states as Tehran strikes across Middle East

In 2023, China mediated a peace deal between Riyadh and Tehran, but the ties are being tested as Iran targets sites in Saudi Arabia.

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China has deep economic relations with GCC states – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. UAE capital Abu Dhabi is pictured. Photo: AFP
China energy security

Why the Iran war will accelerate China’s push to become an ‘energy powerhouse’

The conflict does not pose an immediate threat to China’s oil supply, but will spur on the country’s energy security drive, analysts say.

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India

Friend to all, foe to none: Iran war tests India’s Middle East balancing act

New Delhi has long prided itself on being friends with everyone in the Middle East. The killing of Khamenei just made that much harder.

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Hong Kong transport

Hongkong Post’s airmail services to 24 countries affected by strikes in Middle East

Public postal service suspends airmail to Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, affecting ‘services transiting through these locations’.

Residents mail parcels at the General Post Office in Central in May 2025. Photo: Elson Li
Pakistan

‘Managed escalation’: Pakistan-Taliban stand-off enters dangerous new phase

With positions entrenched, mediation efforts by regional powers are unlikely to deliver a swift breakthrough, observers say.

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Russia

Trains through the Taliban: Central Asia’s plan to bypass Russia and Iran

The Soviet Union severed Central Asia’s ancient trade routes to the Indian subcontinent. The region’s modern-day leaders want them back.

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Pakistan

Pakistan declares ‘open war’ with Afghan Taliban, attacks Kabul, Kandahar

The air strikes came hours after Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border troops in what the Taliban government said was retaliation.

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Taliban security personnel stand guard near the Torkham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan on Friday. Photo: AFP
China airliners

China’s C909 jet gets international uplift with funding for adoptive airline

Chengdu Airlines, an affiliate of C909 manufacturer Comac, has received a capital injection to help widen the jet’s international coverage.

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Lao Airlines, the flag carrier of Laos, has added the Comac C909 regional jet to its fleet. Photo: CCTV
Pakistan

Pakistan claim of killing 80 militants ‘false’, Taliban security source says

The Afghan Defence Ministry said ‘various civilian areas’ in eastern Afghanistan were hit, including a religious madrasa and multiple homes.

China trade

As high-speed railways saturate China, how far can their global reach extend?

As Chinese giants eye Eurasia for new infrastructure, analysts speculate on what it will take to keep overseas projects from going off the rails in different host nations.

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Pakistan

11 soldiers, 1 child killed in Pakistan after suicide bomber hits security post

Seven other civilians were injured in the blast, which damaged part of the compound and nearby homes.

Emergency workers help the injured after a militant attack in Bajaur, Pakistan, on Tuesday. Photo: Pakistan Red Crescent/Reuters
United Nations

Opinion | More than funding, the UN needs restructuring

The UN’s financial strain is a chance to rethink its structure, cut inefficiencies and empower local work that delivers more impact.

Internally displaced Palestinians walk among the ruins of the Al Tuffah neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City on February 11. The UN human rights office has maintained a presence in Gaza despite the challenges. Photo: EPA
China-Russia relations

As Central Asia builds ‘smart cities’ with China, is it moving away from Russia?

Lack of Russian involvement in the mega-projects is seen as part of a broader structural shift as the region moves ‘closer to the world’.

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India

‘Structural reality’: why US tariff deal cannot sever India-Russia defence ties

While the pact demands a halt to Russian oil imports, analysts say New Delhi’s military dependence on Moscow is non-negotiable.

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