Author: Noviseh Musakhel

Dushanbe 25/2 (35.71) The social networking activity of “influencer” Ismoil Mahmadzoir is causing a stir within the country’s political and security corridors. His grandfather President Emomali Rahmon is planning his succession, which has triggered quiet maneuvering within elite factions, including Mahmadzoir’s relatives. Nobody is clear about how becomes the next president of Tajikistan. The daughters jockeying for the top job besides the grandson.Video of a bland speech by Tajikistan’s long-time President Emomali Rahmon was posted late last month on Instagram by Buzkashi_1111, a handle created by Ismoil Mahmadzoir, the 25-year-old son of Firuza Emomali, one of the president’s daughters, who…

Shares in Donald Trump’s media company soared as the firm made its formal debut on the stock market. Shares surged past $70 in early trade, giving the firm a market value of more than $9bn. They ended the day at about $58, still up more than 16%. The long-awaited moment will inject more than $200m into Trump Media & Technology Group and hands the former president a stake worth more than $4bn. Analysts say that is far more than the firm’s performance warrants. Trump Media’s Truth Social, a Twitter-like service, brought in just $3.3m in revenue in the first nine…

Pakistan has called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to urge the Taliban to sever its connections with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the country’s envoy said. “I am confident that this council will join Pakistan in demanding that the Afghan government terminates its relationship with the TTP,” Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Munir Akram, stated during a UNSC meeting on Wednesday. His comments follow a report that Pakistan’s fatalities from terrorist attacks and counterterror operations hit a six-year high, with nearly 1,000 deaths reported by The News in January, citing the Centre for Research and Security Studies’ Annual…

Daily Mail reported on February 29 that Republican Senator` Steve Daines is ominously warning about a growing network of terrorists entering the U.S. through the southern border that could be plotting an attack on American soil.     A top Grand Old Party (Grand Old Party, or GOP, is a nickname for the Republican Party) senator Steve Daines reportedly told reporters at a press conference on February 27 that a ‘high-level individual’ warned him that over 50,000 Central Asians crossed illegally into the United States last year. That same individual from Central Asia, Daines said, also expressed concern about a possible terror…

Berlin (29/2 – 30) Ukrainian officials are concerned that Russian advances could gain significant momentum by the summer unless their allies can increase the supply of ammunition, according to a person familiar with their analysis. Internal assessments of the situation on the battlefield from Kyiv are growing increasingly bleak as Ukrainian forces struggle to hold off Russian attacks while rationing the number of shells they can fire. Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said Thursday that mistakes by frontline commanders had compounded the problems facing Ukraine’s defense around Avdiivka, which was captured by Russian forces this month. Syrskyi said he’d sent in more…

The Sri Lankan government announced Friday the establishment an independent Commission for Truth, Unity and Reconciliation through an act introduced in Sri Lanka’s Parliament. The government stated that the commission is intended to “ensure an inclusive process in developing legislation that strengthens and safeguards national unity through truth, transitional justice, reconciliation, reparation and social cohesion.” The commission will also aim to prevent any conflict between various ethnic groups within the country, such as Tamils, who recently a spate of arrests following commemoration of fallen Tamil separatist soldiers. Pending the creation of the new law, Sri Lanka has created the Secretariat for the Truth and Reconciliation Mechanism to push to ensure the…

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Emir Siraj ul Haq asserted on Saturday that the Pakistani rupee was “trailing behind” currencies such as the Afghan Afghani, Bangladeshi Taka, and Sri Lankan Rupee. Addressing the women’s workers’ convention in Bahawalpur, Haq took a swipe at the political opponents, saying, “The political parties who ruled the country for the past 76 years had done to impose an Islamic political system in the country.” Haq blamed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) for ballooning inflation and unemployment. “Will the people of the country be the slaves of these two families…

Nyon, Manchester, Milan (19/12 – 31) The group phase of the 2023-2024 UEFA Champions League is to conclude this month. Names of the sixteen clubs who will compete in the knock-out phase have been released. On Monday, 18 December 2023, UEFA conducted the draw for the last-16 round, at their headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. Defending champion Manchester City came out from the draw with the biggest smile as they will face off with the arguably easiest opponent. Pep Guardiola’s team will Danish champion Copenhagen, who were down at 37th in the UEFA club coefficient ranking. As the current title holder,…

Berlin (06/12 – 67.67) Asliddin Sherzamonov, an activist from Tajikistan, strongly believes that the United Nations (UN) should assess the actions of the Central Asian country’s security forces during the events of 2021 and 2022 in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO). Speaking at the UN session on minorities held in Geneva on December 1, Asliddin said that an independent international commission should be established to evaluate the activities of Tajikistan’s security forces. In the operations carried out by security forces in 2021 in Roshtkala and Khorog, three people died. In another operations in the spring of 2022 by the security…

he Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), a global processing standard for textiles manufactured using organic fibres, has revealed a substantial uptick in certified facilities within Sri Lanka, underlining a growing awareness of international best practices and sustainable manufacturing principles among Sri Lankan apparel companies. Sri Lanka’s apparel industry body the Joint Apparel Association (JAAF) has taken note of this positive trend and a South Asian representative of GOTS Ganesh Kasekar revealed a 21% increase in certified facilities compared to the previous year. Presently, 74 factories in Sri Lanka have secured GOTS certification for the period of 2023/2024. Local apparel giants…