Connectivity

A Ukrainian citizen suspected of participating in the undersea explosions in 2022 that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Germany has been arrested, German prosecutors said on Thursday 21 August. The suspect, identified only as Serhii K. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested overnight in Italy’s Rimini province, federal prosecutors said. According to an AP report, they added that he is believed to be one of the coordinators of the operation.

Today (18 July), Tajikistan and the United Arab Emirates signed an intergovernmental agreement on air transport cooperation, marking a significant development in strengthening ties between Central Asia and the Gulf region.

On Thursday (17 July), Pakistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan signed a framework agreement in Kabul to conduct a joint feasibility study for the Naibabad–Kharlachi segment of the Uzbekistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan (UAP) railway corridor.

Armenia is set to host its own artificial intelligence data factory, with the project valued at $500 million and scheduled to begin operations in 2026. This investment initiative is being jointly implemented by Firebird, the Armenian government, and NVIDIA, JAMnews has reported. “FirebirdCloudAI is Armenia’s largest and most important tech investment the country’s ‘Stargate’. The idea was born when Jensen Huang, co-founder and CEO of NVIDIA, visited Yerevan in 2023. Today, it’s becoming reality. The AI factory, equipped with thousands of Blackwell GPUs, will spark innovation across Armenia,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wrote on X.

In Armenia tech education starts early. In a typical three-storey state school in the suburbs of Yerevan, the Armenian capital, nine-year old Slavik is demonstrating his invention, a box with three LED lights.  Next to him, 14-year-old Eric and Narek are showing their smart greenhouse model that monitors temperature and controls fans automatically through a mobile app. Other children are enthusiastically showcasing their inventions: games, robots, apps and smart home projects. Eleven-year-old Arakel is holding his cardboard model of a house with a retractable clothesline.

Between 12 and 18 March, European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jozef Síkela will visit the five Central Asian countries to strengthen the EU-Central Asia partnership ahead of the EU-Central Asia Summit and scale up Global Gateway, the EU’s investment strategy to boost jobs and sustainable economic growth.