Author: Khorrahan

Washington 6 Nov (20). Donald J. Trump is back. Hate him or love him but we got four years more with the same narcissistic copy of Mussolini. Not Hitler, but Mussolini. Trump has managed to polarize everyone. On the policy side Trump is as shallow as the old guard. Trump brings back the babes of pretty in heels and tight dresses. But that’s all. Now a disclaimer. Harris and Biden are to blame for the Democratic defeat. So were Pelosi, Schumer, and Schiff but Harris and Biden topped it. And who wants a family crushing social climber who stepped over…

Singapore 23/10 (28.57). Ten fake websites have been blocked by the Singapore authorities over concerns that they could potentially be used to lay the groundwork for disinformation campaigns here. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said the websites masquerade as Singapore websites by spoofing or using terms associated with Singapore in their domain names and incorporating familiar local features and visuals. Singapore biggest newspaper the Straits Times takes a closer look at the banned websites. Alamak.io The site’s name uses the colloquial expression of shock often used by Singaporeans. It presents itself as a local news…

Iraq’s prime minister hosted a unique conference in Baghdad during the 21 million-strong Arbaeen march, linking the seventh-century murder of Imam Hussain in Karbala to Israel’s current genocide of Palestinians. BAGHDAD and KARBALA – Arriving in Baghdad today comes as an electric shock to any visitor who remembers recent, somber Iraqi history. There are virtually no checkpoints, apart from sensitive government areas. None of those ghastly cement blocks from the time of the American occupation, forcing a slow slalom every few minutes. No sense of unpredictable danger capable of striking at any minute. Lush greenery thrives all over the capital…

Palestine will under no circumstances agree to Russia’s exclusion from the Middle East settlement process, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in an interview with TASS First Deputy Director-General Mikhail Gusman following his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. As Abbas emphasized, Russia “has always sought and is seeking ways for a peace solution” and is striving for “a just solution to the Middle East issue in accordance with of international law.” “And let’s not forget its role in the ‘Middle East Quartet’. The United States has always wanted to exclude Russia from this process. Under no circumstances shall we agree…

The head of Britain’s domestic intelligence agency warned the country’s leading research universities on Thursday that foreign states are targeting their institutions and imperiling national security. “We know that our universities are being actively targeted by hostile actors and need to guard against the threat posed to frontier research in the most sensitive sectors,” said the deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden, who also attended the briefing. The threat requires “further measures,” said the deputy PM, who announced that the government was launching a consultation with the sector so it could “do more to support our universities and put the right…

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.…

Brussels (12/03 – 55.56) Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, said that the dissolution of human rights NGOs signals a deteriorating environment for civil society and human rights defence in Tajikistan. She reiterated that Tajikistan must reconsider its attitudes towards civil society and view human rights defenders as allies instead of enemies. Earlier in November 2023, Tajikistan Minister of Justice announced that 700 NGOs in the country had been liquidated over an 18-month period. “Human rights defenders working on so-called sensitive issues, including freedom from torture, the right to housing and compensation for requisitioned land, minority rights, freedom of belief and good governance, political rights, and…

Madrid (10/03 – 21.43)Exorcism is a key source of income for Sabohiddin Shodiev, a popular cleric in his rural community on the outskirts of Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. Shodiev — not his real name — says that every week he treats about 15 clients who ask him to expel what they believe is an evil spirit, or jinni, possessing them, or to rid them from “an evil eye.”The 53-year-old cleric has been practicing exorcisms — which he learned to do from his father — for more than two decades. Most of Shodiev’s clients come from Dushanbe and nearby districts,…

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…

The powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iran has attracted significant attention from western policy makers, intellectuals and the media, especially over its growing influence in the Middle East post-2003. This scrutiny has intensified, in particular for the IRGC’s elite Quds Force, following the assassination of its commander, General Qasem Soleimani, in a targeted US drone strike in 2020, a year after the Trump administration designated the IRGC in its entirety as a terrorist organisation. Decades of oversight of the IRGC and the “lack of foundational understanding of Iran since 1979” has cost the US and its allies dearly, argues…