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Central Asia

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Central Asia
Central Asia
News from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan.
Yurt is championing Central Asian cuisine in Hong Kong. Photo: Jocelyn Tam
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.

Iran

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

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US, Israel war on Iran

Azerbaijan vows to respond after Iranian drones injure 4

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 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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Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) shakes hands with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi during a press conference on February 26. Photo: EPA
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’.

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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A Taliban guard walks along railway tracks near a TAPI pipeline construction site at the Afghanistan-Turkmenistan border in 2024. Photo: AFP
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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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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A high-speed train leaves Tegalluar Station, located along the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway in Indonesia. Photo: Xinhua
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.

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.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (left) speaks with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi in December 2025. Photo: AFP
Climate change

Opinion | Why China and Europe should care about Central Asia’s water crisis

Central Asian rivers shape Eurasian trade flows, affect global food markets and contribute to geopolitical instability across the region.

Hong Kong politics

Hong Kong to formulate first 5-year plan to align with national blueprint

Task force led by Chief Executive John Lee will formulate plan, which one expert says signals greater government role in city’s development.

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What to do in Hong Kong

5 of the best things to do in Hong Kong this weekend, January 30-February 1

Indulge in an excess of tea, browse Hong Kong’s independent fashion brands, immerse yourself in Central Asian culture and more this weekend.

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PMQ’s Tea Round 2026 festival is one of five things we recommend checking out this weekend in Hong Kong. Photo: Tea Round, PMQ
Afghanistan

Why are Afghan-Tajikistan border tensions such a headache for China?

A suicide bombing at a restaurant in Kabul is just the latest sign of how Chinese citizens can become caught up in the region’s instability.

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A Chinese man and at least six Afghans were killed in a restaurant bombing in central Kabul on Monday. Photo: AFP
India

Unrest in Iran complicates India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy

India views the current Iranian government as a ‘predictable counterweight’ against Pakistan’s influence, an analyst says.

Belt and Road Initiative

China ramps up Belt and Road deals amid US competition

A 75 per cent boom in China’s Belt and Road Initiative last year will help lock in resources for the energy transition and AI rush, as well as extending the country’s global reach.

Chinese overseas

Explosion at Chinese restaurant in Afghan capital kills 7

The Afghan branch of Islamic State claimed responsibility for the Kabul attack, saying it was carried out by a suicide bomber.

Taliban security personnel at the scene of the blast in Kabul. Photo: AFP
Belt and Road Initiative

US trade war? China had bigger plans in 2025 as ‘belt and road’ deals surged

China’s global infrastructure strategy logged a record US$213 billion of new deals in 2025, as metals projects in Central Asia soared, report finds.

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Security guards patrol a lithium project in Zimbabwe. China’s engagement in metals and mining projects surged last year, according to a report by the Griffith Asia Institute. Photo: EPA-EFE
India

‘Trump’s wrath’: India’s aim to diversify trade via Iran faces tariff threat

The 25 per cent tariff against countries that trade with Iran may curtail India’s plan to develop the Chabahar port in Iran.

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Food and Drinks

First Look: Yurt, Hong Kong’s ‘first modern Central Asian restaurant’

The Kazakh founders of this SoHo restaurant eventually aim to expand it into a cultural hub, seeing an outpouring of support from the local Central Asian community.

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