Turkmenistan state-run media say business leaders are setting up a political party to challenge the one-party system that has controlled that Central Asian state since its independence two decades ago.

The lower chamber of Tajikistan's parliament has approved a bill that would permit visa-free visits by U.S. and European Union citizens, as well as nationals of some countries in Southeast Asia.

In a new report, the U.S. State Department calls last year’s uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa “inspirational," with citizens in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, and Syria standing up and demanding their universal rights, greater economic opportunity, and participation in their countries’ political future.

Kazakhstan's parliament has begun discussing a controversial draft law that enables law enforcement agencies to collect detailed and confidential information about citizens.

The Kazakh Agriculture Ministry says at least 400 more rare saiga antelopes have been found dead in the northern Qostanai region, bringing to nearly 1,000 the number found dead in the area in the past week.

The signing of a gas sale-purchase agreement brings the construction of the TAPI natural-gas pipeline project closer to reality. But while the deal has revived hopes for the much-delayed project that would supply Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan with Turkmen gas, many obstacles remain.

Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev says his government strongly supports a project to build a trans-Asia railway to connect his country to both China and Uzbekistan.

Prosectors in Kazakhstan say a preliminary investigation has been launched into the deaths of some 60 newborns and toddlers since the beginning of the year at a maternity hospital in Almaty.

Representatives of Turkmenistan, Pakistan, and India have signed an agreement aimed at the construction of a pipeline that would cross Afghanistan to bring Turkmen gas to India and Pakistan.