Day: July 11, 2025

Min Aung Hlaing expresses ‘sincere appreciation’ for letter from US president threatening 40% tariff

Myanmar’s military leader has praised Donald Trump and asked him to lift sanctions, as the junta sought to capitalise on a tariff letter from the US president believed to be Washington’s first public recognition of its rule.

Min Aung Hlaing, in power since a 2021 coup d’etat, expressed his “sincere appreciation” for Trump’s letter threatening a tariff of 40% on its goods, and commended the US president’s “strong leadership” and for guiding the US “toward national prosperity with the spirit of a true patriot”.

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Kazakhstan is currently involved in 20 legal disputes with foreign companies, a decrease from 26 cases in 2023, according to Yerlan Musabayev, Acting Director of the Department for the Protection of State Property Rights under the Ministry of Justice.

“As of now, the Ministry is handling 20 cases involving claims totaling more than $7.5 billion,” Musabayev stated during a briefing in Astana. Of these, 13 are under review in international arbitration, five are in foreign courts, and two are in the pre-litigation stage. The reduction in the number of disputes reflects progress made over the past year, he noted.

Among the Ministry’s recent successes, Musabayev highlighted a key ruling by the High Court of Justice in London in favor of Kazakhstan in a case filed by Canadian uranium company World Wide Minerals (WWM). The dispute originated from Kazakhstan’s 1997 decision to deny WWM an export license for uranium and terminate a trust management contract for the Tselinograd Mining and Chemical Plant (now the Stepnogorsk Mining and Chemical Plant).

The High Court ruling, issued on February 28, 2025, overturned a 2024 decision that had awarded WWM approximately $65 million.

“Under the 2025 decision, the Republic of Kazakhstan has no obligations toward World Wide Minerals. It’s worth noting that the bar for appeals in UK courts is exceptionally high, fewer than 2% succeed,” Musabayev said.

Another legal victory came in a case involving the Kazakh-Italian construction joint venture Todini Impregilo Kazakhdorstroy. The company had sought $20 million in claims, but the International Chamber of Commerce Arbitration Court in Paris dismissed all demands and ordered the joint venture to reimburse $277,000 in legal costs. Enforcement of the ruling required compulsory measures.

“The Ministry of Justice is actively working to further reduce the number of disputes with foreign entities. Through coordinated efforts with other state bodies and the Government’s legal advisors, we’ve saved considerable budgetary resources, preserved Kazakhstan’s investment attractiveness, and strengthened the country’s international reputation,” Musabayev concluded.

As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, Kazakhstan resolved a long-standing legal battle with Anatolie and Gabriel Stati’s Tristan Oil in 2024, following protracted litigation over the nationalization of oil assets. Meanwhile, early reviews of certain production-sharing agreements in the oil sector could lead to new legal proceedings in the near future.

Rare dinosaur fossils unearthed in Kyrgyzstan have been identified as species endemic to the region, according to Ayzek Bakirov, acting director of the M.M. Adyshev Institute of Geology at the National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan. Bakirov shared the findings in an interview with 24.kg.

The discoveries stem from a series of joint expeditions in 2025 involving scientists from Kyrgyzstan, Germany, and the United Kingdom. As a result, new Jurassic-era sites, dating back approximately 165 million years, were located near the town of Tash-Kumyr in southern Kyrgyzstan. While these sites hold significant scientific promise, excavation has been temporarily suspended due to a lack of funding.

Notably, a new species of theropod, a group of predatory dinosaurs, was discovered in the Tash-Kumyr area last year during earlier fieldwork conducted with researchers from Munich’s Paleontological Museum.

“Discoveries of dinosaur remains began in the early 20th century and still continue. New sites are being found, and new species are being studied,” Bakirov noted. He added that more than 30 dinosaur fossil sites are now known across Kyrgyzstan, highlighting the steady progress of local scientific efforts.

Elsewhere in the region, significant paleontological discoveries have also been made. In November 2024, scientists unearthed dinosaur fossils estimated to be 85 million years old in Tajikistan’s Sughd region. Excavations took place in the village of Kansai, a site long recognized for its wealth of prehistoric remains, including reptiles, turtles, crocodiles, amphibians, and fish from the Cretaceous period.

That expedition, led by Russian and Tajik researchers, built upon Soviet-era studies. Among the participants were Umed Nabiev, a master’s student in paleontology, and ecologist Gafurjon Karimov. The team focused on recovering smaller vertebrates to help expand the understanding of prehistoric ecosystems in Central Asia.