Author: Suayb Khosa

Tajikistan is working on a plan to export freshwater from Sarez Lake to Gulf countries and other regions experiencing water scarcity, according to Tajik Ambassador to Kuwait, Zubaydullo Zubaydzoda, as reported by Kuwait Moments. Sarez Lake, formed amid mountains by an earthquake that struck Rushon District of Tajikistan’s eastern Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO) in 1911, causing a landslide that blocked the Murghab River, is a significant potential freshwater export source. It spans 61 kilometres (38 miles) in length and reaches depths of 500 metres. Seismologists worried that another major earthquake in the vicinity could cause catastrophic flooding of land below the location of the lake.…

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…

Sri Lanka earned 205.3 million US dollars from tourism during the month of November 2023, which is over twice the amount in the corresponding month in 2022, the latest data by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) have revealed. The revenue from tourism in November 2022 was 81 million dollars, according to official data.The revenue earned from tourism from January to the end of November was 1.8 billion dollars, which is a 78.3 percent hike from the same period in 2022. Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry told Parliament on Thursday that the tourist arrivals would increase in 2024…

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…

Buckingham Palace released an image of the Christmas card that King Charles III and Queen Camilla will be sending out this year. The card features a photograph taken in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace following the King’s coronation on May 6 this year, Buckingham Palace said. King Charles is wearing a robe made of purple silk velvet embroidered in gold, which was worn by King George VI in 1937, according to the palace. Queen Camilla is wearing a white robe designed and hand embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework, the palace said. The card is the second of its kind to be released by…

Toronto, Alaska (16/11 – 50) Our lives are being maneuvered and we are being manipulated by unelected, insidious forces, toward objectives not necessarily in the people’s interest. Now that the so-called “pandemic”, declared by the mysterious self-appointed World Health Organization, and followed obediently by governments everywhere, has been decreed “finished”, we should devote a moment to introspection, considering who is running the show and for whose benefit, as governments gaily abdicated their vested responsibility to govern. Pandemic is over? I hope they told those killer viruses who destroyed the population of Europe and North America. What? Oh, just 1% mortality?…

ISLAMABAD — A high-level trade delegation of the Afghan Taliban government held trilateral talks on Tuesday with Pakistan and Uzbekistan in Islamabad. The talks come as Pakistan authorities are carrying out a mass expulsion of Afghans residing illegally in the country. The delegation of Taliban government officials and Afghan businessmen, led by the acting Minister of Commerce and Industry, Alhaji Nuruddin Azizi, took part in meetings that “centered around advancing the trans-Afg project, trilateral transit and trade, challenges to regional connectivity, and other pertinent matters,” according to a statement by the Afghan embassy in Islamabad, posted on X, formerly Twitter. The…

If you’re eating healthier meals these days, congratulations — but what do you snack on? By choosing ultraprocessed and sugary snacks, 1 in 4 of us may be undoing all the benefits of healthy eating, according to a new study. “Considering 95% of us snack, and that nearly a quarter of our calories come from snacks, swapping unhealthy snacks such as cookies, crisps and cakes to healthy snacks like fruit and nuts is a really simple way to improve your health,” said senior author Sarah Berry, a researcher at King’s College London, in a statement. (For you Americans, crisps are…

In a significant move, the UN General Assembly declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets on 5 March 2021. This resolution, co-proposed by Nepal, India and other nations, garnered support from 72 countries. Its aim is to spotlight the pivotal role of millets in ensuring food security, bolstering nutrition, and enhancing climate resilience. Millets, often an underrated crop, have been quietly nurturing and sustaining the people of Nepal for centuries. These hardy grains are renowned for their adaptability to diverse and challenging agro-ecological conditions, making them a lifeline in regions with low fertility and limited resources. Compared to major…

Pakistan plans to privatize its loss-making national carrier Pakistan International Airlines, the government said on Monday, as the country also seeks to outsource its airport operations in line with an IMF deal. The privatization decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee of Privatisation chaired by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. The committee “after deliberation decided to include Pakistan International Airlines Co. Ltd in the list of active privatization projects of the ongoing privatization program, following an amendment in the law by the Parliament,” a finance ministry statement said. The committee also backed the hiring of a financial adviser…