Kyrgyzstan raid to seize ex-President Almazbek Atambayev leaves officer dead, government teetering
Ex-Soviet Kyrgyzstan was on the brink of a full-blown political crisis Thursday after a special forces operation to detain former President Almazbek Atambayev failed, leaving an officer dead and a police chief in critical condition. Atambayev's supporters took up arms and threw stones to fend ...
Japan should use its long, under-appreciated history of engagement with Central Asia to promote stability in this vital area.
Japan trounces Kyrgyzstan in final friendly before Asian Cup
Japan proved a cut above in its last friendly before next year's Asian Cup, beating Kyrgyzstan 4-0 on Tuesday. A second-minute strike by national team debutant Ryosuke Yamanaka set the tone, with Genki Haraguchi adding another midway through the first half and substitutes Yuya Osako ...
Convicted rapist and Olympic judo champion Masato Uchishiba to coach Kyrgyzstan men's national team
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Masato Uchishiba will coach the men's national judo team of Kyrgyzstan, returning to the judo world more than five years after receiving a lifetime ban in Japan following a rape conviction, sources said Monday. The 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing 66-kg ...
St. Petersburg metro blast suspect likely born in central Asia
A blast in a St. Petersburg train carriage on Monday that killed 14 people and wounded 50 was probably carried out by a Russian citizen born in Kyrgyzstan, authorities from the predominantly Muslim central Asian state said. Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported on Tuesday ...
Car bomber dies, at least three hurt in attack on Chinese Embassy in Kyrgyzstan
A suspected suicide bomber on Tuesday rammed a car through the entrance of the Chinese Embassy in the Kyrgyzstan capital of Bishkek, injuring at least three people, with both countries describing it as a terrorist attack. The three people at the embassy sustained minor injuries ...
During visit, Kerry raises human rights issue with autocratic central Asian states
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday met Uzbekistan's autocratic ruler and officials from other Central Asian states accused of being among the world's worst human rights offenders. But in the talks in the ancient city of Samarkand, he tempered any public criticism as ...
Abe treads in China's footprints in Central Asia, picks up human rights baggage
Prime Minster Shinzo Abe's trip to Mongolia and Central Asia — in which he became the first Japanese leader ever to visit Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan — looks to bring in a raft of investment deals for Tokyo. But the whirlwind tour likely had ...
Extraordinary measures used to fight militant Islam in 'stans'
Authorities in Central Asia's former Soviet "stans" are taking draconian measures to stamp out militant Islam, but their harsh methods and the absence of democratic politics risk provoking a backlash that could bring even greater instability. While the region's authoritarian rulers have battled Islamic militancy ...
Estonia on Thursday became the first former Soviet nation to legalize gay partnerships, while Kyrgyzstan — another ex-Soviet republic thousands of kilometers east — considers anti-gay legislation. The parallel moves reflect starkly divergent paths taken by the countries that once were parts of the Soviet ...
Photojournalist wins prize for revealing Kyrgyzstan's abduction weddings
Noriko Hayashi, a photojournalist based in Tokyo, spent four months in Kyrgyzstan last year to document the mysterious bride kidnappings in the Central Asian country. In early September, Hayashi, 29, became the first Japanese photographer to win the Visa d'or feature award at the Visa ...
