Author: Leo Luther Alvarez

The Union of Shopping Centres (STTs) estimates that half of the country’s shopping centres are facing high debt burdens. Many have taken out loans with floating rates, which creates a risk of widespread bankruptcies. Marina Malakhatko, a senior director at the consulting firm CORE.XP, told the Russian media outlet Kommersant that at least 200 shopping malls will be at risk of bankruptcy in 2025. She said some owners are already looking to sell their assets. Debt servicing has become even tougher after Russia‘s Central Bank was forced to hike interest rates to 21 percent – the highest level in over 20 years. The…

Washington/Vienna/Berlin (10/8 – 45.45)After a tip-off by U.S. intelligence officials and only a few hours left Austrian police made swift arrests. The plot seems too bizarre not to be true. Abul Baraa, aka Ahmad Armih, the German based hate-preacher in Berlin radicalized via Tik-tok or Istagram a 19-year Beran A. to swear the oath of alliance to the Islamic State. After a tip-off by U.S. intelligence officials and only a few hours left Austrian police made swift arrests. The plot seems too bizarre not to be true. Abul Baraa, aka Ahmad Armih, the German based hate-preacher in Berlin radicalized via…

Moscow (28/2). Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that non-governmental organizations in Central Asia have stepped up their anti-Russian activities amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army. Shoigu said this at the board of the Russian Ministry of Defense on February 27. According to him, there are more than 100 “large pro-Western non-governmental organisations” operating in Central Asia, which have more than 16,000 representative offices and branches. “Against the backdrop of the special military operation, these NGOs have significantly increased their anti-Russian activities in order to reduce military-technical, economic and cultural cooperation between the Central Asian states and Russia.…

All men in Russia are required to do a year-long military service, or equivalent training during higher education, from the age of 18. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree setting out the routine spring conscription campaign, calling up 150,000 citizens for statutory military service, a document posted on the Kremlin’s website showed on Sunday (31 March). All men in Russia are required to do a year-long military service, or equivalent training during higher education, from the age of 18. In July Russia’s lower house of parliament voted to raise the maximum age at which men can be conscripted to 30…

Islamabad, Pakistan — A court in Islamabad on Wednesday dismissed the petition from former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan seeking to move a key appeal filed by him to Lahore, marking the latest setback for his attempts to contest upcoming national elections. Khan has been behind bars since August 5. He was initially convicted for not disclosing assets earned from the sale of gifts from foreign dignitaries meant to be kept in a state depository, and later in a case about revealing state secrets. The case involving gifts led to Pakistan’s election commission disqualifying him from parliament. He had filed an appeal in…

The government is planning to pass the Education Act in the new term, as the last session of parliament during the tenure of the current government ended on November 2. An identified vested group associated with coaching centres has engaged in spreading propaganda about the new curriculum, but the authorities cannot take legal action as the proposed Education Act has not been passed in parliament yet. Recently, Education Minister Dipu Moni said that the proposed Education Act can be passed in the next term of the government. She further said some coaching centres, Facebook accounts, and individuals with anti-government leanings…

American aircraft on Sunday struck a weapons storage facility and a command-and-control center used by Iran-linked militants in Syria in the latest round of retaliatory strikes amid continued attacks on U.S. troops in the Middle East, officials said. “Within the last two hours, the U.S. has taken precision defensive strikes against two sites in Syria,” one official told ABC News. The operation was in response to what the Pentagon has called ongoing attacks, injuring dozens of American troops, by proxy fighters supported by Iran since the Israel-Hamas war began after Hamas’ terror attack last month. The U.S. military said the strikes are part of a larger strategy…

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s chief diplomat for Afghanistan has alleged that the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is under the control of the Afghan Taliban, and that the TTP-Taliban relationship is hurting the bilateral relationship between the two neighbors. “We cannot fathom the fact that the TTP people, who are living in Afghanistan, are under their (Afghan Taliban) control. They are allowed to cross the Pakistan border and conduct sabotage activities, massacre and then go back. This is something that is discomforting for us,” Pakistan special representative for Afghanistan Asif Durrani said in an interview on Ambassadors Lounge. Pakistani officials have often privately…

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has test-fired an Ababeel missile capable of carrying multiple warheads that can attack different targets. Pakistan last tested the multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles-capable weapon on Jan. 24, 2017. The military’s media branch, Inter Services Public Relations Pakistan, stated Wednesday’s test was meant to revalidate “various design, technical parameters, and performance evaluation of different sub-systems” and was “aimed at strengthening deterrence and enhancing strategic stability in the region.” The Strategic Plans Division, which handles Pakistan’s nuclear deterrent, did not respond to Defense News’ request for information about the latest test. In 2017, the public relations organization stated…

New Delhi: Close to $69 billion ($68.91 billion) — that’s the total sum of money China has lent Pakistan. A considerable chunk of this ($55.8 billion) was lent between 2013 and 2021, with $33 billion lent during a three-year period, from 2015 to 2017, a study has revealed. AidData, a research lab at the College of William and Mary in the US, calculated Pakistan’s total debt owed to China in a report published on 6 November. Researchers also found that Beijing funded 433 projects in Pakistan between 2000 and 2021. Islamabad has received funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) 23 times since 1958, and 14 times since 1988, highlighting the persistent balance of…