Author: Aysha Akhmedov

One of several West African players living in Kyrgyzstan, 37-year-old Tagoe says he dreams of developing a football culture in the poor Central Asian country. “My dream is to have them play in English premiership, in Spain, in Russia,” Tagoe told AFP in English, referring to the young players. It is an ambitious task in a country not known to be a major football nation. Mixed martial arts and wrestling are among favourite sports in Kyrgyzstan, and much of the country still lacks adequate sporting facilities. Tagoe arrived in Kyrgyzstan from Russia when he was in his early 20s and…

Kyrgyz have always treated headwear with special respect. Disrespecting someone’s headwear was equated to humiliation of its owner. Number of rules regarding headwear exist to this day: one can not sell his headwear or pass it to someone else; you shouldn’t play with it or put it on the ground; when taking off, both hands should be used. In the house, headwear is usually kept in a place of honour. Traditional headwear kalpak and elechek reflect the national identity and have special status. Kalpak, or ak kalpak, is a male headwear made of felt. Ak kalpak is worn at work,…

When she arrived in Moscow over a decade ago, Venera Toktorova endured the typical fate of immigrants from Kyrgyzstan, taking on a series of tough, low-paid jobs. Today, after years of hard work, she is a successful entrepreneur who owns two restaurants, and the only Kyrgyz movie theatre in the city, which she co-founded. In a lively café filled with Asian music in Moscow’s east, a woman watches the comings and goings of the servers with an authoritative eye, while checking her mobile phone from time to time. Wearing a light-coloured dress and her hair neatly tied back, Venera Toktorova,…

Pakistan’s pharmaceutical industry has warned that dozens of local companies will be forced to close due to unaffordable production costs caused by the rupee’s devaluation, import hiccups and spiraling inflation. A pharmaceutical crisis in Pakistan is heating up amid a delay in releasing crucial bailout funds from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to the tune of $1.1 billion (€1.03 billion). Medicine production in the South Asian nation has plunged by 21.5% in recent months — mainly due to the prolonged refusal of commercial banks to facilitate the import of raw materials. Syed Farooq Bukhari, chairman of the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, told DW…

The Central Bank has issued two circulars, one to banks and another to finance companies, to support businesses and the individuals who fell into fresh difficulties, due to the ongoing economic crisis, which sent interest rates through the roof. The final round of moratoria expired on January 7, this year and since then, there has been an uptick in the non-performing loans in the banks. Hence, this new round of the relief will be offered on a case-by-case basis, after an objective assessment of the repayment capacity of each borrower. When extending relief however, the Central Bank requested the banks…

MANILA (UPDATED)— President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.’s administration has so far filed 76 diplomatic notes and protests against China amid tensions in the West Philippine Sea, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Friday.  Manila sends notes and protests to Beijing “every time there is an illegal intrusion or action that’s actually been committed in our EEZ (exclusive economic zone),” said DFA Spokesperson Teresita Daza. “Ang DFA po almost regular na nagpo-protest kasi ho marami pong illegal na action na nangyari… Importante po na maging vigilant kami and through diplomatic action be able to say that they should not continue,…

On Monday – as the saga over the alleged spy balloon dragged into its 11th day – a fresh spat erupted between Beijing and Manila. This one was over lasers. The Philippines accused China of using a “military grade” laser light on a Philippine coastguard boat. It said the incident had happened on 6 February when the boat was attempting to take supplies to the Sierra Madre, a vessel that is used as a Filipino naval outpost in the South China Sea; and that a Chinese vessel intercepted the Filipino coast guard boat, blocked its way and used a laser device to…