Author: Levent Naz

Tajikistan, a Central Asian state with limited means, is trying to project a get-tough-on-terror image following the late March attack at a Moscow concert venue, in which Tajik militants are accused of killing over 140 people. But the government steps being taken appear to address the symptoms of the domestic challenge, not the disease. The March 22 terror tragedy prompted a wave of retribution against Tajik citizens in Russia and placed President Imomali Rahmon’s regime in an unwelcome spotlight, reminding the world of its numerous flaws in governance. Rahmon’s damage-control efforts have included a mixture of denial and a “round-up-the-usual suspects” approach that does…

Russia has reportedly lost a staggering amount of troops over the past 24 hours along with dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles as bloody fighting takes its toll on Vladimir Putin’s men. Russia lost a staggering 1,740 troops in a single day, the highest tally of casualties for Moscow since the start of the invasion in 2022, according to Ukraine. In the previous 24 hours, Ukraine also claimed Russia had lost 30 tanks and 42 armoured vehicles. Death toll and military hardware statistics are difficult to assess with both sides giving different or little information. However, Ukraine’s armed forces have claimed Russia has so far lost an eye-watering…

Punishing hot weather affects not only a person’s health or work productivity but also affects couples’ fertility and birth outcomes, a project by the National University of Singapore (NUS) found. Rising temperatures could further reduce Singapore’s resident total fertility rate, which dipped below 1 – a record low – in 2023. The rate refers to the average number of babies each woman would have during her reproductive years. Researchers from the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine studied sperm samples from 818 men that were already stored at the National University Hospital’s (NUH) andrology section. The scientists then traced the men’s…

Tajikistan’s existential project to build the colossal 335-meter-high Roghun hydropower dam is proceeding apace, but costs are spiraling, and to a level that is making it hard to see where the government is going to find the funds needed to finish the work. To complicate matters for Dushanbe, this is happening against the backdrop of calls from environmental watchdogs for international development lenders to pause the allocation of any future funds to Tajikistan pending a fresh assessment of the project. The extent of the budget overshoot is striking. In a press conference on February 16, Finance Minister Faiziddin Kahhorzoda revealed…

HANOI, Dec 8 (Reuters) – Chinese investments in Vietnam have boomed this year in contrast to a slowdown in U.S. spending and trade, official data show, as the world’s two largest economies vie for influence in the strategic Southeast Asian country. The manufacturing hub stretching along the South China Sea is increasingly a key assembling link in global supply chains that often rely on Chinese components and U.S. consumers.00:10S&P, Nasdaq notch highest closes since early 2022 U.S. President Joe Biden achieved an upgrade of diplomatic relations with the former foe in a visit to Hanoi in September, after a year of intense…

The handshakes between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan are becoming increasingly warm. For ten long years the two men had rather cold relationship, it had become obvious within the international community that they could hardly tolerate the presence of each other. A first tentative rapprochement took place in Qatar a year ago, on the sidelines of the Football World Cup; this was a brief but cordial handshake. In the two following meetings – first at the G20 summit in New Delhi in September and then at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit in…

India’s navy chief chided China this week for its aggressive behavior in the South China Sea in rare blunt remarks that hinted at New Delhi’s growing concern over the safety of vital sea lines. “The fragile security situation in the South China Sea, where the growing number of instances of bullying of smaller navies, including fishermen, by the Chinese militia or its navy…poses a clear and present danger to the good order and discipline at sea,” said Adm. Hari Kumar, the Indian Navy’s top uniformed officer. Kumar was speaking at a public event organized by the National Maritime Foundation, a government-funded think tank, in…

Migration, Turkey, energy issues, and the Middle East dominated the discussion between Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Olaf Scholz in Berlin, with the economy taking a backseat reflecting Greece’s transition from the dire financial straits of the previous decade. Mitsotakis described this transition as “national progress,” citing Greece’s investment grade, and the fact that it has seen the fastest debt reduction in the world. “From being the black sheep in the years of the crisis, it is now an example,” he said. Consequently, the discussion between the two leaders took place on a completely different basis than in the past, leaving behind…

Analysis of internet searches conducted by people in Russia suggests their real views on the war in Ukraine differ significantly from what the Kremlin would like the world to believe, new research reveals. What opinion polls tell us According to both the Voice of America and Euronews websites, recent surveys of the Russian public conducted by their government show two obvious trends in relation to the war in Ukraine, which seem to be counter-intuitive. These polls found that while as many as 80 percent expressed concern about the financial and social effects of Western sanctions, imposed after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, they did not blame the Kremlin.…

AADE is focusing on those who declare their tax address in another country but live here. The tax administration is examining the taxpayers who, although they have declared their permanent residence outside Greece, live and work in the country. Most of them have chosen a country with low tax rates and at the same time avoid the presumed income that applies in Greece and the inspection of their bank deposits. The auditors of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) are looking for those who normally live in Greece, but declare themselves tax residents abroad, in order to avoid taxes…