PTI: In a move that could upset Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping have agreed to undertake a joint India-China economic project in Afghanistan at their first informal summit here, official sources said. The understanding was reached between the two leaders during the two-day informal summit which concluded today, they said. Click
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty April 25, 2018 Turkey says nearly 30,000 Afghans have entered the country since the start of the year, in what Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu called “a new refugee wave.” Soylu said on April 25 that 29,899 Afghans had crossed into Turkey since January compared to 45,259 people in the whole of
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan | April 25, 2018: Afghans heading to take part in the opium harvest tell RFE/RL they have no other way of making a living. Afghanistan is the world’s biggest poppy producer. Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400,
Reuters: Afghanistan’s central bank has granted a license to the Islamic Bank of Afghanistan (IBA), the first lender in the country to apply the interest-free principles of Islamic finance in all its operations… The IBA was previously known as Bakhtar Bank and operated under a conventional banking license since it was acquired by Azizi Bank in
Stars and Stripes: Businesses that boomed in Afghanistan during the height of the international mission were in construction and logistics for international troops and aid organizations. Once most of the troops left in 2012, the country’s economy, which once enjoyed double-digit growth, stopped growing, according to the Special Inspector General for the Reconstruction of Afghanistan
Tolo News: Ministry of Mines and Petroleum on Monday said they have terminated the extraction contract of Herat’s Ghoryan salt mine signed with a private company two months ago following the discovery of minerals including lithium and uranium. The spokesman for the ministry of mines Abdul Qadir Mutfi said their recent studies showed that these minerals
thethirdpole.net: China’s appetite for minerals has powered a rapid expansion of its international mining interests in all major metals – including copper, which is vital to the automotive, power generation, and consumer electronics industries. But so far not much has been done in Mes Aynak. Click here to read more (external link).
Reuters: Sales of Afghanistan’s ancient carpet-weaving industry have dropped by half in the past year as war with Taliban militants heats up and neighboring Pakistan clamps down on border traffic. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News: Afghanistan Meteorological Department on Tuesday said this year the average temperature around the country has increased by about two degrees. In some parts of the country, farmers are extremely concerned about the increase in temperature. Click here to read more (external link).
VOA News / April 9, 2018: Afghanistan is set to exploit its unique agricultural climate by refining and exporting another kind of flower, orange blossoms! An Afghan investor found a way to extract the citrusy, floral bouquet from the delicate flowers to create perfumes. As VOA’s Zabihullah Ghazi reports in Jalalabad, not only is the perfume