Author: Sidney Peters

A regular meeting of the Council of the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) member countries’ Defense Ministers took place on Friday in Almaty. Armenia did not participate in the event. This is no surprise – although Armenia has not withdrawn from the CSTO, it does not participate in the organization’s activities, including joint military exercises. Earlier Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in parliament that he knows “at least two CSTO countries that participated in the preparation of war” against Armenia, and Yerevan announced about stopping partaking in funding the Collective Security Treaty Organization, which also includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Armenia, as…

China will not allow any country to ignite wars – cold or hot – in the Asia-Pacific region, Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun told an international security conference in Singapore on Sunday. “We will not allow hegemony and power politics to harm the Asia-Pacific. Nor will we allow geopolitical conflicts, cold wars or hot wars to be introduced into the Asia-Pacific. Nor will we allow any country or any force to create war and chaos here,” Dong said in an address to the Shangri-La Dialogue. He added that countries in the region had the ability and confidence to solve regional problems. A day…

The president of Iran was on Sunday night feared dead after the helicopter he was travelling in crashed in a mountainous region. The lives of Ebrahim Raisi and Hossein Amirabdollahian, his foreign minister, were “at risk”, an Iranian official said during a large search and rescue mission. Ahmad Vahidi, the Iranian interior minister, blamed the crash, which came just a month after Tehran launched an unprecedented missile and drone attack against Israel, on poor weather conditions. State media described the incident as an “accident”. The chief of staff of the Iranian military ordered the entire army and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)…

Explanations beginning to emerge after worst terror attack in Israel’s history They might as well have been sitting ducks. They are the tatzpitaniyot, mostly female soldiers stationed on the IDF bases near the Gaza Strip, their eyes glued to security cameras and other feeds of the border. Last Saturday morning, the Hamas terrorists who entered some of those bases with hang gliders shot at cameras and jammed some communications systems. They shot at the combat soldiers who were stationed at those bases, as well as at the tatzpitaniyot. “Yes, they surprised us, and we weren’t ready for it,” said a female soldier…

Eight international human rights groups have called on the Kyrgyz government to stop its crackdown on independent media after 11 journalists were detained in a move the watchdogs said was aimed at “intimidating and harassing” journalists to keep them from carrying out their work. In a statement dated January 16, Civil Rights Defenders, Human Rights Watch, the International Partnership for Human Rights, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, People in Need, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, the International Federation for Human Rights, and the World Organization Against Torture urge the Kyrgyz authorities to respect freedom of the press and cease their repressive actions.The…

Within the framework of “Female Health Month” in October, more than 400,000 women aged 18 and above across the country underwent preventive examinations in primary health care organizations for the prevention and early diagnosis of noncommunicable diseases, the Swiss Embassy said. The month was conducted by the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic supported by the Swiss project “Effective Management and Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases in Kyrgyzstan” from October 1 to October 31, 2023. As a result of the month, 82,000 women were identified with high blood pressure for the first time, while 7,000 were determined to be at…

Russian troops reportedly adapted their tactics by digging tunnels to launch attacks from near Ukrainian positions and using unmanned ground vehicles. According to Anton Kotsukon, spokesman for the 110th Separate Mechanized brigade, in a broadcast on October 21, Ukrainian reconnaissance units reportedly witnessed Russians using car-sized remote-controlled vehicles to deliver munitions. The fight to defend Avdiivka was fierce as Russia continued to bring new resources to the fight. “They have enough resources, very fierce fighting continues every day, every day they throw more and more new forces into the attack – both personnel and armored vehicles, aviation, artillery,” he said.…

Rome (16/11 – 57) Sri Lanka is mired in a deep political and economic crisis and the country’s then President Rajapaksa has flown out of the country, days after a huge crowd of protesters stormed his residence in July 2022. Protesters for months have demanded the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, whose government has been blamed for chronic mismanagement of the country’s finances. The island nation of 22 million people has suffered months of lengthy blackouts, acute food and fuel shortages, and galloping inflation in its most painful downturn on record. Here is how the crisis unfolded: April 1: State of emergency Rajapaksa declares a temporary state of emergency, giving security forces sweeping powers to arrest and…

Premier of the State Council of China Li Qiang arrived in Kyrgyzstan for an official visit. The Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, Akylbek Japarov, welcomed the guest at Manas International Airport, and a guard of honor was formed. During his stay in Bishkek, Li Qiang will meet with the President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov and Chairman of the Cabinet Akylbek Japarov. Following the visit, a number of documents will be signed. Li Qiang will also take part in the meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of SCO member states on October 26, 2023. Source : 24KG

London (07/11 – 71) For ten years now, the authorities of Tajikistan have been engaged in forced assimilation of the ethnic Pamiri people, giving away the heartlands to China for debts,” Orzu M. shared with RFI – Radio France Internationale is a French news and current affairs public radio station that broadcasts worldwide. RFI met with Orzu in Paris, sharing the fact that more and more Pamiris are leaving their native homes in Gorno-Badakhshan Mountainous Autonomous (GBAO) Region of Tajikistan; they are driven into exile by the persecution of the authorities, who are displacing indigenous peoples. RFI: How did it…