The mystery surrounding a wave of deadly protests that engulfed Kazakhstan in January 2022, known as ‘Bloody January’, is slowly unraveling. With around 238 dead, what caused the protests was a subject of debate for some time. At the time, officials tried to frame the revolt as an intricate plot involving foreign-trained terrorists and bandits. However, few outside of Kazakhstan bought into such a poor explanation. Another interpretation is that former President Nazarbayev and his relatives were attempting to undermine and even unseat Nazarbayev’s replacement Tokayev. This understanding of events just received further validation after the recent arrest of Samat Abish, former deputy head of Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee, and Nazarbayev’s nephew.

The Taliban welcomed China’s new ambassador to Afghanistan with all the pomp and circumstance they could muster last Wednesday. The lavish ceremony was held at the presidential palace where the Taliban’s Prime Minister Mohammad Hasan Akhund shook hands with Zhao Sheng before accepting his credentials. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs played down the meeting claiming, “this is the normal rotation of China's ambassador to Afghanistan and is intended to continue advancing dialogue and cooperation between China and Afghanistan.” 

The Republic of India is now the fourth nation in the world to complete an unmanned moon landing. On August 23rd the Chandrayaan-3 successfully touched down placing India alongside the United States, the People’s Republic of China, and the Soviet Union (today the Russian Federation) as one of the elite few to accomplish such a monumental feat. Plans are already underway for a three-day Indian crewed mission in the Earth’s orbit by next year.