Ashgabat - Reclusive Turkmenistan staged its first foreign opera on Tuesday, nearly 19 years after the Central Asian country's founding president banned the art form as "incompatible with Turkmen mentality".

Ashgabat - Turkmenistan's authoritarian leader has sacked his long-serving interior minister and blamed corruption for slowing the gas-rich Central Asian nation's economy, state media reported Wednesday.

Ashgabat - Turkmenistan's all-powerful leader returned to state television on Wednesday, dispelling an online rumour that he had died.

Abdul Malakazi, governor of the Badghis province in Afghanistan claims that 25 members of the country's elite commando units have been killed in clashes with the Taliban.

Ashgabat - Reclusive, gas-rich Turkmenistan is dipping its toe into the world of eSports having got a taste for gaming at a showcase sporting event it held last year.

Ashkhabad - Gas-rich Turkmenistan on Saturday hailed the expansion of a Soviet-era power plant that it hopes will become a hub for electricity exports to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Ashgabat - The ruler of ex-Soviet Turkmenistan has ditched his signature black hair dye -- a move that will be closely analysed in a nation famed for its leadership personality cults.

Ashgabat - The son of Turkmenistan's leader has been appointed deputy foreign minister, state media reported Saturday, just days after he scored a huge victory in a parliamentary election.

Ashgabat - The son of Turkmenistan's authoritarian leader scored a huge victory in tightly controlled parliamentary elections, state media reported Friday, in a result that could indicate a path towards hereditary succession in the gas-rich former Soviet state.

Ashgabat - Voting concluded in Turkmenistan's parliamentary election Sunday, the central election commission said, in a ballot that could indicate a path towards hereditary succession in the gas-rich former Soviet state.

Ashgabat - Tightly controlled Turkmenistan has banned broadcasters from showing sex and encouraging "bad habits" in a law designed to create a "positive image" of the Central Asian country on the air.

Ashgabat - Fans of Coca-Cola in gas-rich Turkmenistan's capital Ashgabat are complaining they can no longer "taste the feeling": their favourite drink has disappeared from shop shelves amidst a sharpening economic crisis.

Ashgabat - Turkmenistan's image-conscious strongman Gurbanguly Berymukhamedov on Sunday kicked off a 10-day regional sporting event the isolated country is hosting despite a slew of economic and rights concerns.

Ashgabat - Turkmenistan claimed Tuesday that the Central Asian country had broken a niche world record by building the world's "largest horse head sculpture" ahead of a sporting event it is preparing to host.

Ashgabat - Reclusive Turkmenistan has banned sales of alcohol until October to ensure "public order" ahead of a key sporting event the country is hosting next month, an official in the trade ministry told AFP Saturday.

Ashgabat - UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres Tuesday urged ex-Soviet Central Asian states to observe human rights in the fight against extremism as he completed a tour of the Muslim-majority region.

- Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on Tuesday unveiled a statue of his feared predecessor during his first official trip abroad to neighbouring Turkmenistan.

Ashgabat - In a generous gesture following an electoral victory in which he scooped 97 percent of the vote, Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has promoted his closest electoral rival, state media reported Tuesday.

Ashgabat - Isolated Turkmenistan's strongman Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov was sworn in Friday in a grand ceremony after securing over 97 percent of an almost uncontested vote at the weekend.

Ashgabat - Turkmenistan's reigning strongman Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov bagged a new seven-year term with nearly 98 percent of a weakly contested vote, electoral officials said Monday, following a preliminary count.