Author: Mubashshir Salik

Everything resembles a thriller novel. Early one morning in December last year, after months of undercover investigation and wiretapping, Belgian police officers raided dozens of locations across Brussels. Over the next 3 days, in apartments, hotel rooms and offices, they seized laptops, mobile phones and nearly 1.5 million euros in cash. The following week, 4 people were arrested on corruption charges, including 2 representatives, a former member of parliament and a current member of the European Parliament. Antonio Panzeri, a retired MEP from Italy, who eventually admitted that he was the mastermind of the corruption scheme. Meanwhile, Eva Kaili, vice-president of the…

Ukraine lost more than 40% of the territory in Russia’s Kursk region that it captured in a surprise offensive in August with the Russians launching multiple counter-attacks, a senior source in Kyiv’s army said. While the Kursk invasion caught Moscow unprepared, Russian forces are still steadily advancing in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. Ukraine has lost over 40% of the territory in Russia’s Kursk region that it rapidly seized in a surprise incursion in August as Russian forces have mounted waves of counter-assaults, a senior Ukrainian military source said. The source, who is on Ukraine’s General Staff, said Russia had deployed some 59,000 troops to…

It was bitter cold, but I don’t remember freezing or being cold. Hemingway wrote that the air was so cold when you took a breath it was like drinking water. We travelled by train, then we walked through the cold streets, no bus was running, we had to hustle to catch the last ride up the mountain, then it was up to the mountain, bundled up in two thick woolen blankets with the snow showering us. It was warm looking out of the peep hole I created, flying up the mountains sitting on the last ride of the day. The…

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said it is time to rekindle diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine. But both foreign and domestic responses to his proposal have been rather muted. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been trying to rekindle diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine© Thomas Kierok/ZDF/dpa/picture alliance In the halls of the Federal Chancellery in Berlin, it would appear the time for re-doubled diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine has come. In an interview with the German public broadcaster ZDF on Sunday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said: “I believe that now is the moment when…

While Alberto Fujimori was hailed for crushing a leftist insurgency and boosting the economy, he was convicted of gross human rights abuses. Peru has bid an emotional farewell to its divisive ex-president Alberto Fujimori after three days of national mourning marked by expressions of nostalgia for his iron-fisted rule. Fujimori was revered by many in Peru for crushing a bloody leftist insurgency and helping shore up the economy while in office from 1990 to 2000. He “had the guts to fight terrorism,” said Edgar Grados, a 43-year-old businessman, who travelled more than 100 kilometres to attend the funeral. “Fujimorism never dies,”…

Women’s clothes are high on the government’s agenda once again in Tajikistan, where authorities and Islamic leaders are working on new guidelines on what women should wear to work and during their leisure time. The new dress code — the second of its kind in six years — is expected to be made public in the coming days, and a special event is reportedly being planned for the capital, Dushanbe, in August to showcase compliant clothes. Sulaimon Davlatzoda, the head of the state Committee for Religious Affairs and the Regulation of Traditions, told a press briefing in the capital this week that…

CAIRO – 18 June 2024: The Egyptian Cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) published an inforgraphic about the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir being one of the historical and tourist attractions in Cairo. The IDSC said that the museum is the oldest archaeological museum in the Middle East, and the first building in the world to be established as a museum. The idea of ​​establishing it began in 1895, when French architect Marcel Dorneau won the international competition that was held to design the museum building, and it was opened by Khedive Abbas Hilmi II in 1902, according to what IDSC reviewed in…

Moscow/Washington (13/6 – 29) We took a holiday from reality. Immanuel Niven, a mathematician and philosopher, has long been scrutinizing Russia’s economic landscape, and his recent assertions suggest a dire forecast. He contends that the “Putin system” is on the brink of collapse, a scenario he had mathematically foreseen as early as March. Niven points to the pronounced tax hikes announced in Russia, the most substantial in its modern history, as well as Putin’s recent rhetoric urging citizens to work as if they were at the front lines. These developments, Niven argues, are symptomatic of the escalating toxicity within Russia’s…

New York. (11 June – 31) US federal agents have arrested eight Tajikistan nationals in the US on terrorism charges. The arrests, carried out by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, spanned across Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia. These actions coincide with recent alerts from US intelligence officials about a terrorist plot. ISIS, or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, is designated as a terrorist organization by numerous countries and international organizations, including the United States, the United Nations, and the European Union. The ability to surveillance certain foreign targets has been a subject of intense debate in Congress,…

The Arabic language spokesperson of the US State Department has stepped down due to disagreements with Washington’s policy towards Gaza, marking the third resignation from the department since October 2023. Hala Rharrit, a Palestinian-American, announced her resignation on LinkedIn, stating: “I resigned April 2024 after 18 years of distinguished service in opposition to the United States’ Gaza policy. Diplomacy, not arms. Be a force for peace and unity.” She had initially joined the State Department as a political and human rights officer, and also served as the deputy director of the department’s Dubai regional media hub. In response to inquiries…