Eurasianet

In our weekly briefing: Restrictions easing, COVID denialism persists, foreign suitors come visiting in hope of business, and the latest annual horse jamboree.

The billionaire had bought his stake only months ago from the president’s son-in-law.

Businesspeople worry that Kazakh reliance on Russian export routes is going to harm the economy.

Sanctions on Russia quickly impact its allies in Central Asia.

None could miss Beijing’s big moment.

The country has belatedly introduced a COVID pass system to enter restaurants and bars as the vaccination rate remains at just 28 percent.

Xi Jinping said trade has grown 25-fold over the last two decades.

Salaries were always horribly low but living costs have soared since the pandemic began.

Employers are now effectively required to demand proof of vaccinations from their workers. But the country’s health care system is now being pushed to the limit.

Middle-class Afghans with the means to navigate Tajikistan’s bureaucracy see the country as a springboard to the West.

That sets them apart from Afghanistan’s other post-Soviet neighbor, Tajikistan.

The government hopes to boost vaccination rates, but a new anti-vaccine campaign is on the rise.

In recent years the Caucasus country has become a magnet for Iranian students, business owners, and dissidents. But now many report they’re not being allowed to enter.

The new rules come as the country is trying to stave off a third wave of the virus and vaccination numbers remain in the low single digits.

With an art school and international animation festival, a Georgian Orthodox bishop is trying to revive a village on the de facto border with South Ossetia.