BISHKEK (TCA) — Each year, World Tuberculosis Day is marked on March 24. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) works with the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic to fight this deadly infectious disease. Following a new roadmap on improving prevention and treatment of tuberculosis (TB) developed with USAID’s support, the Kyrgyz Republic is adopting new treatment models, modernizing the health system, and providing new incentives for doctors, the US Embassy in Bishkek reports.

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DUSHANBE (TCA) — Human Rights Watch Central Asia researcher Steve Swerdlow says Turkey has detained two Tajik opposition politicians wanted in Tajikistan but will not extradite them at this point, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reports.

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ASTANA (TCA) — Police in Kazakhstan’s capital hunted for people holding blue balloons during Norouz new year celebrations on March 22, following fugitive opposition politician Mukhtar Ablyazov’s Facebook call for Kazakhs to express support for his banned movement by displaying blue balloons, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reported.

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ASHGABAT (TCA) — Starting from March, women employed by state agencies and organizations in the Turkmen capital Ashgabat have been “recommended” not to use nail polish, not to have nail and lash extensions, not to dye hair and wear gold jewelry items, independent foreign-based news website Chronicles of Turkmenistan reports.

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BISHKEK (TCA) — Both Kazakhstan and Tajikistan are facing the growing threat posed by former Islamic State militants returning back home from Syria to bring in terrorism and extremism to the Central Asian region. So it is a good time to join efforts in addressing the problem. We are republishing this article on the issue by Farkhad Sharip, originally published by The Jamestown Foundation’s Eurasia Daily Monitor:

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BISHKEK (TCA) — The United States has added an Uzbek militant group fighting in the Syrian civil war to its list of “global terrorists,” RFE/RL reported.

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