Author: El Thousta

2022 saw the highest number of casualties from cluster bombs since 2008, the year most of the world banned them, according to an annual report from the Cluster Munition Coalition, or CMC, released Tuesday. Civilians represent 95% of the victims. Cluster bombs killed or wounded 1,172 people in 2022, mostly non-combatants, a nearly eightfold increase from 2021. That casualty number was 890 in Ukraine alone. Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Laos, Azerbaijan, Myanmar, and Yemen also recorded casualties. According to the report, children accounted for 71% of casualties from unexploded remnants, often mistaking the small, shiny fragments for playthings. Cluster bombs scatter explosives…

BRUSSELS — The European Union’s home affairs commissioner made an impassioned appeal Monday for the release of a Swedish employee of the EU’s diplomatic corps who spent a second birthday in an infamous Iranian prison. Sweden said last week that Johan Floderus, who worked for the European Union’s External Action Service, was arbitrarily detained in Iran last year. He has been in custody for more than 500 days and turned 33 on Sunday. Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said Floderus was part of her Cabinet for almost two years but had asked to work for the EU delegation in Afghanistan before…

In an army base in Iraq, an ordinary day took an extraordinary twist. What began as a whimsical pursuit of fun led to unforeseen consequences for one valiant soldier. A lighthearted activity to partake in the sweet science of boxing quickly evolved into a spectacle that took everyone by surprise. From time to time, the soldiers try to come up with things that would keep them engaged during the core of warfare, but this engagement developed into a showdown of the genders.In 2007, within the unforgiving backdrop of an army base in Iraq, a captivating challenge resonated through the sweltering…

The counterterrorism expert and author of “Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday Massacre: Lessons for the International Community” explains how religious extremism manifested in Sri Lanka’s deadliest terror attack. On April 21, 2019 – Easter Sunday – a coordinated series of bombings ripped through Sri Lanka, targeting churches and luxury hotels. Over 260 people were killed, making it the deadliest terrorist attack ever suffered by Sri Lanka. The attack has continued to resonate in Sri Lankan society and politics, as the public demands to untangle questions of responsibility: Why was the attack not prevented, and what can be done to stop the…

Retired Army Sergeant Michael Burroughs served three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2004 and 2008. Retired Army Sgt. Michael Burroughs and his family were gifted a mortgage-free home by a national nonprofit called Building Homes for Heroes. Sgt. Burroughs, his wife Yadira, and their five children were presented with the keys to their new home in a patriotic-themed ceremony Wednesday. As part of this program, Burroughs and his family will not have to make mortgage payments on their new home. Sgt. Burroughs enlisted in the Army in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks when he was…

The newly created Oxus Acquisition Corp is a next step for Kenes Rakishev to acquire companies specialized in the red-hot area of energy transition, batteries and EV’s. Kenes Rakishev, who is heavily involved in the modern tech investment scene rolls out his strategy to acquire more assets. Oxus Acquisition Corp, created by Kazakh businessman Kenes Rakishev, wants to raise $ 150 million to acquire a company specializing in technologies in the field of «energy transfer». The prospectus of the IPO of Oxus Acquisition, which plans to get a listing on NASDAQ, was published on the website of the US Securities and Exchange…

Vienna, Brussels (26/9 – 36) David McCallum – the British actor who played as Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard, a pathologist on hit CBS TV program NCIS, has died aged 90 on Monday (25/09/2023). McCallum died on Monday of natural causes, surrounded by his family, at New York Presbyterian Hospital, CBS said in a statement. NCIS executive producers Steven D. Binder and David North shared their memories of working with McCallum. “For over twenty years, David McCallum endeared himself to audiences around the world playing the wise, quirky, and sometimes enigmatic, Dr. Donald ‘Ducky’ Mallard,” they shared in a statement. “But…

Geneva, London (29/7 – 50) Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, condemned the arrest and imprisonment of journalists, bloggers and civil society activists in Tajikistan, and questioned the credibility of the evidence presented in court against them. Lawlor was on a two-week official visit to Tajikistan last December. The report prepared by her and members of the delegation on the results of this visit was published in May of this year, but only now became available to the public. The authorities of Tajikistan will have to prepare an official response to the document, which…

Turkish FM discussed oil exports blocked by Turkey in March after a longstanding arbitration case filed by Baghdad. Turkish drone attacks in northern Iraq have killed seven members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), authorities said, as the country’s foreign minister met the president and prime minister of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). “A Turkish army drone struck a PKK vehicle, killing an official and two fighters”, the KRG’s counterterrorism services said on Thursday. The attack took place in Sidakan district, north of the regional capital Erbil. Later, the counter-terrorism services said that another drone strike in Sidakan had killed…

UAE energy firm Dana Gas has received $80 million from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq, which for over a decade has sometimes struggled to make payments on time, Reuters reported, citing statements from Dana Gas. Pearl Petroleum, a consortium majority-owned by Dana, “recently” received $101 million from the KRG “despite the ongoing challenges within Iraq and is in ongoing discussions with the KRG to settle outstanding receivables as soon as possible,” Dana Gas said in a statement on its first-half results. Dana Gas also received $26 million in payments from Egypt, where its only other operations are, it said. The firm…