From the National Geographic archives, a look back at the Citroën-Haardt Trans-Asiatic Expedition. By BILL JONES   GEORGES-MARIE HAARDT was one of those latter-day explorers who completed the first journey on wheels across Central Asia. Covering 8,000 miles, the trip’s purpose was to open up the Silk Road to cars. “Across desert wastes and windswept plateaus, over snow-clad mountain passes, …

by Fatehul Mulk Ali Nasir   Prior to Aman-ul-Mulk’s ascension to the throne of Chitral in 1858 the fortunes of this deep valley set amongst the heights of the Hindu Kush were very different. Chitral has long had a tradition of kingship, and indeed the early signs of nationhood, since at least the days of the Chinese Book of Tang, …

The peace deal was signed after 18 months of talks in Doha Sorin Furcoi Al Jazeera] Peace deal signed in Qatari capital, Doha, will pave the way for the complete withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan within 14 months   Doha, Qatar: The US and the Taliban have signed a landmark peace agreement after nearly 20 years of war that could …

Cambridge Trust and the University of Central Asia signed an agreement extending their partnership to develop faculty across Central Asia for a further three years.   High Asia Herald Report   The head of the Cambridge University has underscored the importance of freedom of enquiry on campuses. “The spirit of free enquiry that underpins higher education does not flourish behind …

Bathymetric assessment jointly with Moscow State University specialists News Desk AKAH partners with Tajik academy of sciences for facilitating disaster forecasting conference Dushanbe, Tajikistan: An international conference on best practices on forecasting disaster, risk management and mitigation will take place in Dushanbe this year. The sixth in a series of conferences, titled: “Debris Flow: Disasters, Risk, Forecast and Protection” will …

High Asia Herald Report  Afghan President Ashraf Ghani banned the hunting of rare birds and animals two years ago, but hunting continues across the country and the hides of rare animals can be bought in markets in the capital, Kabul. Two years ago Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had banned the hunting of rare birds and animals, but hunting continues across …

www.rferl.org/b76c7cea-7f1c-4de8-964e-9d88ba149ad8   High Asia Herald Report Two Tajik girls were battling illnesses that threatened their lives unless they could undergo liver transplants. Last month, doctors told their mothers they’d found a perfect match: each woman could donate part of her liver to the other’s daughter. The two Tajik women were brought together by a desperate search, says a documentary prepared …

(File photo). Tajik conscripts are drafted to the army twice a year. DUSHANBE — Tajikistan is aiming to cut the term of mandatory military service from two years to 18 months, the country’s justice minister has said. Abdumannon Kholiqzoda told reporters on February 7 that the proposed change is included in draft amendments to the law on mandatory military service …

File photo of the confluence of Khurdopin and Yokshin Glacier and blockade of Verjherav glacio-fluvial stream. Credit: MIMCP HAH Report Assessing and monitoring hazards as well as surveying the damage and collecting data during emergencies in hard-to-reach mountain areas poses many difficulties. At higher altitudes, satellite data does not come in high enough resolution to create accurate hazard maps, and …

  A submachine gun that started a quest to know more about the Kirghiz exodus from the Pamirs   Raheel Siddiqui   When one is trotting on a horse at a high altitude through a mountain pass, accompanied by a friend who’s running low on sleep due to low oxygen, there is a slight hope that one won’t be bothered …

The reported shoot-out near the Uzbek and Afghan borders will concern Russia and China as well. The attack in Tajikistan could have broad implications for Central Asia DUSHANBE: A deadly attack on a Tajik border post reported early on Wednesday is disturbing for many reasons, including the fact Tajik officials are blaming the so-called Islamic State (IS) militant group for the …

KARACHI: Once a prime candidate for extinction, the population of vultures in Pakistan has shown tentative signs of recovery in the past five years, but nature’s “garbage disposal” is still facing looming threats on several fronts, experts said. The population of several species of vulture started declining in the mid-1990s due to the ingestion of livestock carcasses containing residues of deadly …

    Herald Report Conservationists, ecologists, and environmentalists have called for enhanced efforts and awareness about the impact of climate change on snow leopard and its habitat. The impact of climate change, unmanaged tourism, and human development have affected the snow leopard and its fragile ecosystem, they noted while speaking at different events organized by the Snow Leopard Foundation (SLF) …

  HAH Report Shelley Fairweather-Vega, a Seattle-based writer and translator. She translates literature from Russian and Uzbek languages into English. She collaborates with authors, academics, and activists around the world and has worked on projects as varied as Russian poetry, Uzbek historical fiction, popular science, romance, and detective stories. She is a founder of the literary translation circle in Seattle, …

The Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) has been helping communities create safe and resilient human habitats, with improved services in areas where they could see a future for themselves with focus on programmes related to climate change adaptation and mitigation. Herald Report The climate change caused by global heating and overexploitation of resources by corporate greed have put the existence …