FEB. 17 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Facing a growing threat from wolves, Armenia’s government said it would pay hunters $260 for every wolf they kill. Officials want to cull 200 wolves of an estimated population of 600. Attacks on villages have risen as wolves adapt to the cold weather and deforestation.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 78, published on Feb. 23 2012)
FEB. 14 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Providing an insight into the mind-set of the Uzbek authorities, officials in Uzbekistan cancelled Valentine’s Day celebrations and ordered people to celebrate the works of a 16th century poet, media reported. According to AFP officials described Valentine’s Day as “an excess of liberalism”.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 77, published on Feb. 16 2012)
FEB. 6 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Around 1,400 workers at the Kumtor gold mine, which makes up around 12% of Kyrgyzstan’s national income, started a strike over new tax payments which they say their employer should pay on their behalf. Centerra Gold, the Canadian company which owns and operates the mine, said the strike was illegal.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 76, published on Feb. 9 2012)
FEB. 3 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Officials in Kyrgyzstan confirmed 70 new cases of children infected with HIV/AIDS. Nurses have been screening thousands of children in the south of the country after at least 200 infants were accidentally infected with the virus. Re-used needles and infected blood have been blamed.
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(News report from Issue No. 76, published on Feb. 9 2012)
FEB. 3 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – At the annual Munich Security Conference, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijan would not succumb to a Middle East-style uprising because of its strong economic growth. Last year police in Baku quashed a series of anti-government demonstrations and some analysts have said it may be vulnerable to an uprising.
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(News report from Issue No. 76, published on Feb. 9 2012)
JAN. 31 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – After 46 days, the Kazakh authorities lifted a state-of-emergency in Zhanaozen. Zhanaozen, about two hours drive from Aktau on the Caspian Sea coast, was the focus of rioting last month. Police opened fire on protesting oil workers, killing at least 16 people.
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(News report from Issue No. 75, published on Feb. 2 2012)
FEB. 1 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Increasingly severe power cuts are hitting cities in Uzbekistan, including Tashkent, local media and eyewitnesses have reported. The authorities have blamed consumers and imposed rationing. Many residents, however, believe the government is diverting gas from domestic use to fulfil lucrative export contracts.
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(News report from Issue No. 75, published on Feb. 2 2012)
JAN. 25 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – A property developer in Azerbaijan has applied to the Baku city government for permission to build the world’s tallest tower, the AP news agency reported. Avesta wants to build an office complex with a 1,050m tower at its centre. The tower would be nearly a third higher than the world’s current tallest building.
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(News report from Issue No. 75, published on Feb. 2 2012)
JAN. 31 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Officials in western Kazakhstan ended a week-long strike by 300 workers at an engineering business in Atyrau on the Caspian Sea coast by agreeing to boost their wages by 25%. The deal avoids any risk of a repeat of the acrimonious six-month long strike in Zhanaozen, about 600km south of Atyrau, which ended in riots that killed 16 protesters.
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(News report from Issue No. 75, published on Feb. 2 2012)
JAN. 23 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh security service officers in Almaty raided the HQ of opposition group Alga! and detained several of the banned party’s leaders for inciting riots in the west of Kazakhstan last month which killed at least 16 people. Alga! has said the charges are politically motivated.
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(News report from Issue No. 74, published on Jan. 26 2012)
