BISHKEK (TCA) — The Publisher’s note: Central Asia is an important geopolitical area between Europe, Russia and China. It is in Central Asia that world powers have confronted each other for centuries; it is here that China needs to succeed with its new Silk Road Belt for direct access to the Western markets; and it is here that a large wealth of raw materials has its origin. Every week thousands of news appears all over the world in printed and online media and it is quite understandable that many of them may escape the attention of busy readers. At The Times of Central Asia, we strongly believe that more information can better contribute to peaceful development and better knowledge of the region, and for this reason we are presenting this Weekly Digest of Central Asia which compiles what other media have reported during the past week.

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TEHRAN (TCA) — China will provide a credit line of $10 billion to Iran for its infrastructure projects, Iran’s PressTV news agency reported on September 15.

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ASTANA (TCA) — As Islamist extremism and terrorism is becoming a serious challenge in Kazakhstan, threatening with cyberattacks, the government is implementing a costly information security project aimed at thwarting the threat. We are republishing this article by Farkhad Sharip, originally published by The Jamestown Foundation’s Eurasia Daily Monitor and entitled Encroaching Extremism in West Kazakhstan: A Challenge for ‘Cyber Shield’:

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KABUL (TCA) — Afghanistan plans to increase fruit exports to Russia in the near future by delivering up to 70 tons of fruits to Moscow per day, First Vice-Chairman of Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) Al-Khaj Khan Jan Alokozai told Russia’s Sputnik news agency.

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TASHKENT (TCA) — Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent is hosting “Textile equipment and technologies – CAITME 2017” and “Textile industry – Textile Expo Uzbekistan 2017” international exhibitions, the largest exposition of its kind in the CIS and Central Asia, the Jahon information agency reports.

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ASTANA (TCA) — An OSCE-supported analytical report, produced by the Human Rights Commission under the President, on the rights of migrant workers and human trafficking victims in Kazakhstan was presented on September 14 at the Foreign Ministry in Astana, the OSCE Programme Office in Astana reported.

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