Author: Jeremiah Bradley

Beijing, Dushanbe announced upgrading of diplomatic relations. Chinese President Xi Jinping has promised to defend the “territorial integrity” of Tajikistan as he announced a boost to diplomatic relations with the neighbouring country on a rare visit. Xi arrived in the Tajik capital Dushanbe, Thursday night from Kazakhstan following a gathering of leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), during which he held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and urged the bloc to “resist external interference”. Central Asia is a vital link in China’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a massive infrastructure project that Beijing has used to expand…

Former Russian Deputy Defense Minister Tatyana Shevtsova, who officially was dismissed mid-June, fled to France ‘with hundreds of millions of dollars saved in cryptocurrency.’. Tsargrad and other Telegram channels report this with reference to several sources, although confirmation or refutation of this data has not yet been received. If she fled to France, it must be a deal with the French security service, as she is sanctioned in Europe. There is a version that Shevtsova allegedly cooperated with the investigation against the detained generals, trying to avoid her own charges. According to another version, the generals, to reduce their sentences,…

New York. 23/6. With the clock ticking on when he must report to prison, former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon on Friday threw in an emergency motion to the Supreme Court to hold off his sentence. The high court asked prosecutors to respond to Bannon’s application by Wednesday afternoon. Bannon’s motion comes after a federal judge ruled he must begin his four-month prison sentence on July 1. He was found guilty two years ago on two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House Jan. 6 select committee. The political persecution of political opponents to the Democratic party’s rule and its weaponization questions…

Berlin/Singapore (1/3 – 38.46). Russian propagandists have published a recording of a “conversation between four senior German officers”. In it, they discuss the possible supply of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. The recording is authentic, the Bundeswehr has since confirmed. “This is a very serious matter and that is why it is now the subject of a very meticulous, in-depth and rapid investigation,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said. On Friday afternoon, a half-hour recording of the conversation, which reportedly dates to Monday, Feb. 19, circulated on Russian propaganda channels. Margarita Simonyan, the head of Russia’s state broadcaster RT, then published…

France and the Philippines are considering a defense pact that would allow them to send military forces to each other’s territory for joint exercises, the Philippine defense chief said Saturday after holding talks with his French counterpart. Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said in a joint news conference with French Minister for the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu that they were seeking authorization from their heads of state to begin negotiations. “We intend to take concrete steps into leveling up and making more comprehensive our defense cooperation, principally by working to get authorization from our respective heads of state and relevant agencies to…

The Supreme Court is hearing arguments Tuesday in a closely watched case that some warn could have sweeping implications for the U.S. tax system and derail proposals from some Democrats to create a wealth tax. The dispute before the justices, known as Moore v. United States, dates back to 2006. That year, Charles and Kathleen Moore made an investment to help start the India-based company, KisanKraft Machine Tools, which provides farmers in India with tools and equipment. The couple invested $40,000 in exchange for 13% of the company’s shares. KisanKraft’s revenues have grown each year since it was founded, and…

Before they died, Jennifer Kirk and Sue Sue Norton were both victims of domestic violence, but the men involved — the ex-mayor’s sons — faced few consequences despite a long history of similar allegations. On a subzero Monday morning in March 2020, police found another woman dead at the ex-mayor’s property. Two years earlier, the body of 25-year-old Jennifer Kirk lay curled at the foot of a bed, a rifle on the floor, strangulation marks on her neck and a bullet hole beneath her chin. City police swiftly closed the case, declaring it a suicide. Now police were back at…

Berlin (24/11 – 50) The Supreme Court of the Republic of Tajikistan sentenced five Pamiri leaders from the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) to life imprisonment. They are Tolib Ayombekov, Nazhmiddin Sherchonov, Imumnazar Shoishirinov, Munavvar Shanbiev and Niyozsho Gulobov. The press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan announced their detention in June of this year, presenting everyone as “leaders of an organized criminal group in the city of Khorog” – the administrative center of GBAO. According to information from the law enforcement agency, Shanbiev and Ayombekov were among those with whom the country’s authorities signed separate agreements in October…

Moncton’s Ali Ettarnichi, founder of the new regional newspaper Arabic Atlantic, says the venture is so much more than just ink on newsprint. What makes this publication unique is that it’s not written in English or French. It’s in Arabic. Ettarnichi said it will fill a gap for the growing Arab community in Atlantic Canada. “People would love to see their own language and to speak in their own language and to hold the newspaper in [their] hand and actually read it in Arabic,” he told Information Morning Moncton. “We want to add that magic piece from Arabic culture, to paint this beautiful canvas of…

Amid rising tensions in the Middle East, Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly and Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen arrived in Cairo, Egypt today for a two-day peace summit. At the summit, Canada announced it would be sending an additional $50 million in humanitarian aid to help Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and neighbouring regions. A news release by Global Affairs on Saturday (opens in a new tab)said the aid would be going toward providing food, water, medical assistance and life-saving assistance to civilians in the area, “ensuring that none of the money goes into the hands of Hamas.” “It is…