Author: Narek Torigian

Kiev 1 November 2024. The Ukranian army eliminated a troop concentration of newly arrived North Koreans on the battlefield. About 40 soldiers were killed in an exchange with only one survivor. A heavily bandages survivor spoke in North Korean recorded on social media. Despite anti-Ukranian western media the captured North Korean commented on the success of the Ukranians defeating the Russian army on the battlefield. The freshly arrived North Koreans planned to be embedded woth Russian troops faced the brunt of Ukranian artillery and mortar fire killing forty. The Ukranian president Zelensky commented that North Koreans will be killed should…

North Korean soldiers were being disguised as Russians and were acting under the Kremlin’s command instead of their own, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun reported to lawmakers Thursday, his office told NBC News. SEOUL, South Korea — Twelve thousand North Korean troops will be sent to Russia, South Korea said Thursday, vowing it “will not stand by and do nothing” in the face of the significant “provocation.” South Korea’s Defense Ministry shared the new estimate with NBC News after the U.S. joined Seoul and Kyiv in confirming the development and said any troops deployed against Ukraine will be “fair game.” …

Russia will swap chickpeas for Pakistani mandarin oranges under a new barter system launched in response to payment woes caused by international sanctions in place over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The Biden administration’s secondary sanctions targeting finance and trade flows that could aid Russia’s war efforts have spooked foreign lenders. The threat of sanctions has been notably effective in China, with Russian media reporting that by August, up to 98 percent of the country’s banks were rejecting Russian cross-border settlements in yuan. One potential workaround emerged in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding from the inaugural Pakistan-Russia Trade and Investment Forum, held Tuesday…

Frankfurt, Paris (18/8 – 62.50) Ukraine has scored a series of victories in more than a week since launching a lightning offensive into Russian territory. Now the stakes are rising as its forces prepare to defend their gains and Russia begins to regain its footing. Last week, Ukraine deployed thousands of troops to the Kursk region in western Russia, removing Russian flags from captured towns and taking the initiative from Moscow for the first time in months. On Wednesday, officials in Kyiv said Ukraine would use seized Russian territory as a “buffer zone” to shield its north from Russian strikes.…

Sanjiva Weerawarana is a Sri Lankan success story. He founded enterprise software firm WSO2 in 2005, got it close to $100 million in ARR as its CEO, then sold it to private equity firm EQT for $600 million in May. He sometimes drives for Uber, too. Sri Lanka isn’t renowned for its startup ecosystem, but one company has been something of an outlier in the South Asian island nation these past two decades. WSO2, an open source enterprise software provider with customers such as Samsung, Axa, and AT&T, recently agreed to be acquired by private equity giant EQT, at a valuation TechCrunch reported at the time…

The European Union announced on Friday that it will begin accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova to join the 27-member political and economic bloc starting next week. All 27 members agreed to the Ukraine and Moldova joining the European Union. Negotiations will begin for both countries on Tuesday in Luxembourg, the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union said on X. The move comes at a critical time for both nations with Ukraine in the middle of an invasion by Russia and Moldova facing a Russian-led insurgence by a breakaway state. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the European Union for its “robust political…

Sri Lanka’s police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse an opposition protest today in the island nation facing its worst economic crisis while gearing up for a national election later this year. Protesters from the main opposition United People’s Power party gathered in the capital, Colombo, and accused President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s administration of overburdening citizens by increasing taxes, as well as hiking prices for electricity and fuel, causing a sharp spike in living costs. Opposition lawmaker Sarath Fonseka said: “The government is not concerned with the people suffering and being unable to provide for themselves. “People can no…

Armenia releases 2 Azerbaijani soldiers as part of agreement between Baku, Yerevan reached last Thursday Azerbaijan on Wednesday announced that it released 32 Armenian soldiers as part of a prisoner swap deal. A statement by Azerbaijan’s State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons said that the mutual exchange took place in the country’s border region of Gazakh, where Armenia also handed over two Azerbaijani soldiers. The statement said the Armenian soldiers were released after their health conditions were checked by the International Committee of the Red Cross and their condition was confirmed to be satisfactory. On Thursday,…

In a joint statement released on Thursday, Armenia and Azerbaijan announced plans to “reach a peace treaty on the basis of respect for the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.” Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to take “steps” to normalise their relationship, according to a joint statement by the two countries, a move welcomed by the European Union and the United States. “The Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan share the view that there is a historical chance to achieve a long-awaited peace in the region,” the statement read. “The two countries reconfirm their intention to normalise relations…

Extreme heat causes the most significant mortality rate among all extreme weather events and hazards, with Asia bearing an exceptionally high burden, as the world warms faster than at any point in recorded history, U.N. agencies said in a report. Climate change threatens to reverse decades of health and well-being progress, especially in vulnerable communities, said the joint report “State of Climate Services” by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and World Health Organization (WHO). Between 2000 and 2019, estimated deaths due to heat were approximately 489,000 per year, with a particularly high burden – 45% – in Asia. Countries with…