KABUL — While the choices available in Afghanistan are “not comfortable” ones, continued international engagement and unwavering commitment to the country’s people can help steer the situation to its best possible outcome, the UN’s senior official in Kabul told the UN Security Council on September 9, the UN News service reported.

TASHKENT — Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has accepted the nomination from the pro-government Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan to be its candidate and seek a second term in office in next month's election, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service reported.

NUR-SULTAN (TCA) — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is pledging new funds to improve the financial sustainability of Mangistau Regional Distribution Company (MREK), a major electricity distributor in western Kazakhstan, the Bank said on September 8.

NUR-SULTAN (TCA) — As part of the working visit of Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to the North Kazakhstan Region, the opening of one of the largest factories for the assembly of CLAAS agricultural machinery took place. During the visit, the President was shown grain harvesters, tractors and sowing complexes assembled here, and also told about plans for further development of production, Kazakh Invest national investment promotion company reported on September 7.

BEIJING — Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on September 8 attended the first meeting of foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighboring countries in Beijing via video link, Xinhua news agency reported.

ASHGABAT — Turkmenistan Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov has been reportedly hospitalized with COVID-19 even as authorities continue to deny the presence of the coronavirus within the country's borders, RFE/RL's Turkmen Service reported.

ASHGABAT (TCA) — The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a new activity for youth development in Turkmenistan. The five-year, USAID Youth Development activity, will be implemented by the QED Group and will leverage past and current USAID interventions to connect Turkmenistani youth with employment opportunities and create sustainable linkages between the youth and the labor market, the U.S. Embassy in Turkmenistan said on September 7.

DUSHANBE (TCA) — The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), through their joint Thrive Tajikistan: Partnership for Socio-Economic Development project, officially commissioned a new drinking water supply system and a latrine at School #20 in Safedoron village in Panj district of Khatlon province. This drinking water supply system will provide clean water to more than 2,700 people, and the school latrine will ensure modern sanitation services to more than 640 students and teachers, with separate spaces for males and females, the U.S. Embassy in Tajikistan said on September 7.

BISHKEK — The Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has started three days of military exercises in Kyrgyzstan it says are needed in response to the ongoing situation in Afghanistan, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz service reported.

KABUL — The Taliban has named its reclusive leader Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada as a supreme leader and a founding leader, Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, to lead a new Afghan government as the radical fundamentalist group seeks to establish its rule after the US-backed government collapsed in mid-August, RFE/RL's Radio Azadi reported.

BISHKEK (TCA) — The European Union and the Kyrgyz Republic held their eleventh round of the annual Human Rights Dialogue on September 6 in Brussels.

BISHKEK (TCA) — An OSCE-organized week-long live simulation exercise on how to identify and rescue victims of human trafficking started in Issyk-Kul province, Kyrgyzstan on 6 September. More than 70 professionals from law enforcement agencies including the representatives of the Ministry of Interior, the Prosecutor General's Office, civil society organizations, independent experts and representatives of social services are taking part in the event, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said.

TASHKENT (TCA) — Asian Development Bank (ADB) Vice-President for Private Sector Operations and Public–Private Partnerships Ashok Lavasa met with Uzbek senior government officials and key stakeholders in the past week in Tashkent, reaffirming ADB’s support for Uzbekistan’s reform agenda and efforts to strengthen the private sector, ADB said on September 7.

NUR-SULTAN — Russian-American scholar Yevgeny (Gene) Bunin, known for raising awareness over the situation faced by indigenous peoples in China's northwestern province of Xinjiang, says he has been banned from entering Kazakhstan for five years, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported.

NUR-SULTAN (TCA) — International rating agency Standard & Poor's has affirmed Kazakhstan's sovereign credit rating at 'BBB-', outlook Stable, the official website of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan primeminister.kz reported on September 4.

TASHKENT (TCA) — Within UNDP-UNFPA Joint Programme ‘Building the resilience of local communities against health, environmental and economic insecurities in the Aral Sea region’, funded by the Government of Japan, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) invited Mr. Hiroshi Kaneko, an International Specialist from Japan on Income Generation issues, to hold a series of workshops on digitalization, particularly the use of E-Commerce, FinTech and Social Media, UNDP in Uzbekistan said.

NUR-SULTAN (TCA) — The Kazakh-Chinese enterprise Ulba-TVS LLP with the support of Kazakh Invest national investment promotion company has launched a large investment project for the production of fuel assemblies in Ust-Kamenogorsk (Kazakhstan). The implementation of the project worth 44 billion tenge will create about 129 permanent jobs, Kazakh Invest reported.

KABUL (TCA) — The Taliban claims it has taken complete control of Panjshir Province — the last area in Afghanistan still held by resistance forces, which rejected the allegation, RFE/RL's Radio Azadi reported.

KABUL (TCA) — Fresh fighting was reported on September 4 in the last holdout against Taliban control in Afghanistan, even as the hard-line Islamist group finalized plans to form a government, RFE/RL reported.

DUSHANBE (TCA) — 1,000 residents of Yovon village in Ayni district in the northern Tajikistan finally have access to safe drinking water. The villagers have been suffering water scarcity for more than 30 years. Brooks, streams and irrigation canals were the only drinking water sources for the village in the past and especially women and girls used to spend hours to fetch water, affecting their physical health and the health of all family members as the surface waters do not meet drinking standards. Now, with community initiative, support and contribution, drinking water system is in place.

NUR-SULTAN (TCA) — On September 3, Kazakhstan Prime Minister Askar Mamin and Head of the SBER Group of Companies (Russia) Herman Gref signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in the implementation of projects on digital transformation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the transition to a platform model of digitalization and the concept of Data-Driven Government, primeminister.kz reported.

DUSHANBE (TCA) — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) says it is continuing its support for leading microlending institution IMON International (IMON), which is responsible for a quarter of microlending operations in Tajikistan and the provision of financial services to more than 100,000 microbusinesses and individual borrowers. Following the acquisition of IMON by international shareholders in June 2021, the EBRD is pledging new financial resources of US$ 4 million, which will help promote green investments and create new opportunities for women-led small businesses in the country.

KABUL — The Taliban says China will maintain diplomatic relations with Afghanistan and the new rulers in Kabul will rely on Beijing for economic support after the withdrawal of U.S.-led international forces, RFE/RL reported.

TASHKENT (TCA) — Two senior lawmakers have suggested that President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who enjoys virtually unrestrained political power in Uzbekistan, should be given the honorary title of "head of the nation".

ASHGABAT (TCA) — Authorities in Turkmenistan, where the government has yet to officially register a single case of coronavirus, have extended school holidays indefinitely amid reports on the ground of a spike in deaths believed to be caused by COVID-19, RFE/RL's Turkmen Service reported.