Insert gif of dog in burning room saying "This is fine" here

The latest in Russian anti-drone technology

The bombila may be poised to return amid threats from Russian taxi drivers to return to shadow economy as way to avoid burdensome taxes iz.ru/1929678/vladim…

Research Fellow Bruce Pannier shares his insights on covering Central Asia since the fall of the Soviet Union with Peter Leonard for the CAPS unlock podcast. Listen here: havli.substack.com/p/an-interview… #CentralAsia #BrucePannier #Journalism #Eurasia

Huge, huge relief. Hope Alec Luhn gets well soon. After which he needs to get a bloody good talking to x.com/WCCO/status/19…

insert Michael Scott saying "Nooo, God! No, God, Please, no!" .gif here

Adeeb Khalid, a historian at Carleton College, has spent decades tracing Central Asia’s journey through empire, ideology, and identity. His latest book now being translated into Kazakh. My colleague Zholdas Orisbay interviewed him: azattyq.org/a/qytai-resei-…

Could somebody tell Saida's cameraman and video editor that when *every* *single* shot is a dolly shot or a tracking shot, it stops looking dynamic and instead starts feeling daft? x.com/SMirziyoyeva/s…

Me no understand economic. Economic hard. AI good

In Tajikistan, the standard unit of measurement for civil servants (weight and volume) is the Rahmon. The man on the left is 0.65 Rahmons. The man on the right measures about 1.2 Rahmons

Fascinating insights by Peter Leonard on Taliban’s emerging diplomatic playbook with its northern neighbours in Uzbekistan. open.substack.com/pub/havli/p/wh…

Turkmenistan announces it will send Afghanistan aid to support earthquake recovery efforts x.com/TOLOnews/statu… Uzbekistan says it is prepared to offer its help upl.uz/obshestvo/5556…

An extraordinary few days in Kazakhstan generated much discussion about the political and media environments in this country I recommend Vadim Boreiko's chat with Dosym Satpayev youtube.com/watch?v=rtXCnR… (in Russian) and Peter Leonard's Havli roundup. havli.substack.com/p/phantom-arre…

2025 is looking like the year of youth revolt in Asia: May: Youth protests shake Indonesia Jun: Mongolia’s PM ousted after corruption scandal Sep: Nepal’s “Gen Z” uprising turns deadly All following on from the student-led toppling of Bangladesh’s PM in Aug 2024.

A scene from the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway line

A very glowing spread on Kyrgyzstan's tourist appeal in the UK's Mail on Sunday

At UNGA, Kyrgyzstan’s president cast Putin (alongside Trump) as a would-be peacemaker in Ukraine, griped (inaccurately) that the war hurts Kyrgyzstan, and railed against “unjustified” Western sanctions, which he blames on "lying NGOs" president.kg/ru/news/21/396…

Another day, and another political prisoner dies behind bars in Tajikistan t.me/pamirinside/46…

"The Russian Press has of late disgraced itself by the most scurrilous and outrageous lies and insinuations directed against England and Englishmen."

Please join us on 15 November at Clifton Lit Fest in Bristol, UK, where I'll be in conversation with Peter Leonard about my new book on #Uzbekistan, Silk Mirage. Tickets here cliftonlitfest.com/litfest-event/… + other Silk Mirage events (in person or online) here joannalillis.substack.com/p/silk-mirage-…