Author: Raabia Zimri

Brussels/Dushanbe (10/8- 75) Once more Tajikistan comes on the radar screen. Who will be the next president of Tajikistan? How is the ban on the hijab helping the deradicalization of Tajik society? What is the role of the Chinese and Russian influence? And how is the relationship with the European Union coming along? Every year we face a plethora of Tajik issues, for example corruption and drug usage involving officials, now the ban on face veils, or the newest version a ban on black clothes. The desecration of the grave of one of leaders and the promotions of killer squad…

KARACHI – Pakistan’s current account turned negative after experiencing surpluses in the previous three months of the outgoing fiscal year, State Bank said. A statement issued by central bank reported a current account deficit of $270 million for May, following a $491 million surplus in April. In May FY23, the current account showed a surplus of $155 million. Overall, Pakistan’s current account deficit (CAD) moved down by 88 percent to $464 million in the first 11 months of FY24, compared to $3.765 billion in the same period last year. Quick changes were witnessed with surpluses of $128 million in February,…

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 Czechs have never forgotten that allies handed over their Sudetenland Province to Hitler in 1938 after the German dictator promised it would be “last territorial demand I have to make in Europe.” The Czechs have never forgotten that allies handed over their Sudetenland Province to Hitler in 1938 after the German dictator promised it would be “the last territorial demand I have to make in Europe.” Months later, Nazis occupied their country and waged war in Europe and around the world for seven more years, killing tens of millions. To many today, Ukraine is the next Sudetenland as it…

DHAKA: The US ambassador to Bangladesh has sought meetings with leaders of the country’s three major parties, the embassy said on Monday, as Washington seeks to break a political impasse ahead of elections. Dhaka is set to hold a general election in January, but the main opposition, the Bangladesh Natio­nalist Party (BNP), and its allies have said they will boycott the vote unless Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina quits power and lets a neutral government oversee the polls. Hasina has launched a major crackdown against the BNP since police broke up a giant opposition rally on October 28. Police have arrested more than…

Pakistan’s caretaker government has approved the jail trial of the country’s ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan in multiple cases, a legal officer said on Tuesday. The move came hours before the Islamabad High Court halted Khan’s jail trial in a case that accuses him of exposing state secrets, till further orders, a court record and his lawyer said. A two-judge bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) passed the order after the caretaker Cabinet approved Khan’s jail trial in the “cipher case” in which Khan is already being tried in a jail in the northeastern garrison city of Rawalpindi, as well…

KATHMANDU — Nepal’s constitutional bench has issued a stay on the implementation of laws making it compulsory for community forest user groups across the country to pay taxes to the local, provincial and federal governments under different names. The order comes as community forest user groups took to the streets demanding an end to the “triple tax” system, which emerged after Nepal became a federal republic with seven provinces following the promulgation of the new Constitution in 2015. “A verdict is yet to be passed in the case. This is just an interim order,” lawyer Dilraj Khanal, one of the…

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…

Bangladesh on Thursday received the first uranium shipment from Russia to fuel the country’s only nuclear power plant, still under construction by Moscow. Once finished, the plant is expected to boost Bangladesh’s national electrical grid and help the South Asian nation’s growing economy. The Rooppur power plant will produce 2,400 megawatts of electricity — powering about 15 million households — when the twin-unit facility goes fully online. The plant is being constructed by Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear energy corporation. Moscow has funded the construction with a $11.38 billion loan, to be repaid over two decades, starting from 2027. Once Rooppur…

DHAKA, Bangladesh — Bangladesh is struggling with a record outbreak of dengue fever, with experts saying a lack of a coordinated response is causing more deaths from the mosquito-transmitted disease. The World Health Organization recently warned that diseases such as dengue, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever caused by mosquito-borne viruses are spreading faster and further because of climate change. So far this year, 778 people in Bangladesh have died and 157,172 have been infected, according to the government’s Directorate General Health Services. The U.N. children’s agency says the actual numbers are higher because many cases are not reported. The previous…