The news following the court session that validated the arrests triggered a wave of intolerance towards Tajiks and immigrants, with calls on social media to kick all Asian taxi drivers out of the country. President Rakhmon called Putin on the phone, expressing his strong condemnation of the terrorist act and confirming that 'they belong neither to our nation nor our religion'.

Today's headlines: Senior doctors in South Korea join trainee doctors’ protest. India's foreign exchange reserves reach their highest level in two years. Iran is beset by a severe nursing shortage with more than 3,000 emigrating abroad a year. Thailand is considering legalising casinos. The Chinese are quietly occupying Siberia, raising concerns among local Russians.

For thirty years, Tokyo has been focusing its development aid for Dushanbe on hospitals and mobile first aid devices. Interventions that have led to significant improvements in some areas. Now the goal is to bring the whole of Tajikistan up to the minimum health care standards set by the World Health Organisation by 2030.

Dushanbe rediscovers ancient festivities dating back to the earliest periods of earthwork. In them, some of the world's oldest settled communities commemorate forms of recognition of the forces of nature, with legends, decorations and rituals specific to each.

Defence Minister Šojgu - lashing out against those who oppose Moscow's presence "in countries traditionally our friends" - equates Isis terrorists and large pro-Western NGOs. While Kyrgyzstan approves a law "on non-commercial organisations" that is a photocopy of the Russian one and puts foreign financing in the crosshairs.

The law officially prohibits and criminally punishes bigamy and polygamy. But the lack of civil recognition of Islamic marriages and a vague definition of marital status create ambiguities that allow the phenomenon to persist. With women turning to the police when the man stops fulfilling his religious obligation to support all his wives.