Author: Simon Torossian

Kiev (8/6 – 17). The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense’s announcement about the personnel losses suffered by Moscow in May underscores the toll the conflict has taken on the Russian side. The reported figure of 38,940 personnel losses for Moscow as stated by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, indicates a significant escalation in the conflict’s intensity. Such a high monthly casualty count underscores the severity of the situation and the toll it’s taking on the Russian side. Ellie Cook’s report in Newsweek highlights a critical aspect of conflict reporting the difficulty in accurately determining battlefield casualties. Analysts often caution against…

A former U.S. Navy chief petty officer has been court-martialed and sentenced to 18 years in a military prison for attempted espionage and violating orders, according to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). It is the latest in a series of high-profile spying cases involving Navy personnel, and by far the most serious prison sentence. In January, Chief Fire Controlman (Aegis) Bryce Steven Pedicini was charged with multiple counts of attempted espionage for mishandling or disclosing classified information. Pedicini was a former destroyer crewmember who worked on the Aegis combat system, the Navy’s premier integrated radar and weapons control platform.…

As Victoria Nuland steps down, she gets real about a world on fire. Victoria Nuland has long been known as a relentless, even pugnacious, U.S. diplomat, with a strong belief in American power. The approach sometimes got her in trouble, but it rarely held her back. Nuland recently left the State Department after serving at its highest levels, first as the Biden administration’s undersecretary of State for political affairs, and, for several months, acting deputy secretary of State. She previously was a career diplomat who held an array of roles under presidents both Republican and Democratic; her first posting more than…

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (AP) — Minnesota officially unfurled its new state flag atop the capitol for the first time Saturday on statehood day. The new flag and accompanying state seal were adopted to replace an old design that Native Americans said reminded them of painful memories of conquest and displacement. The new symbols eliminate an old state seal that featured the image of a Native American riding off into the sunset while a white settler plows his field with a rifle at the ready. The seal was a key feature of the old flag. That’s why there was pressure to change both.…

A group of opponents of the Tajik government in Europe said that the authorities have increased pressure on their relatives inside the country for three days. The reason, according to them, was that “the president of the Republic of Tajikistan is likely to visit one of the European countries, and the representatives of the opposition should not hold demonstrations, raise slogans, and throw eggs against him.” Tajik authorities have not yet announced the president’s visit abroad. Our efforts to get an official comment have so far been unsuccessful. The travel time is also not exact. “The authorities demand the parents…

Jake Paul and Mike Tyson have been encouraged to cancel their ‘mismatch’ showdown. ‘Iron Mike’ is set to step back in the ring aged 58 to take on YouTube star Jake Paul in a blockbuster summer fight, a fight which has seen him given medical warnings given their 31-year age difference. Tyson has been documenting his training in footage posted to social media, with some fans surprisingly impressed by his punch power and suggesting he will beat Paul. And his new footage crushing the pads with trainer Rafael Cordeiro, has been met by new pleas from fans for Paul to abandon the fight…

Brussels (12/03 – 55.56) Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, said that the dissolution of human rights NGOs signals a deteriorating environment for civil society and human rights defence in Tajikistan. She reiterated that Tajikistan must reconsider its attitudes towards civil society and view human rights defenders as allies instead of enemies. Earlier in November 2023, Tajikistan Minister of Justice announced that 700 NGOs in the country had been liquidated over an 18-month period. “Human rights defenders working on so-called sensitive issues, including freedom from torture, the right to housing and compensation for requisitioned land, minority rights, freedom of belief and good governance, political rights, and…

Berlin (2/3 – 62.50). Lt. Gen. Alfons Mais says the €100 billion committed by the government last year is insufficient. Meanwhile, an association representing soldiers says the Bundeswehr turnaround needs to speed up. Germany would have to spend more money on its armed forces if it wants it fully equipped, army chief Lieutenant General Alfons Mais said on Sunday. He told the German news agency, dpa, the €100 billion ($107 billion) to speed up the modernization of the armed forces promised by Chancellor Olaf Scholz after Russia invaded Ukraine was not enough. Mais, caused a stir last year when he criticized what he described…

A coalition of civil organizations has launched a tool to support local NGOs and community groups in Southeast Asia to secure financing for nature-based solutions projects. The tool was launched at the just-concluded COP28 U.N. climate summit in Dubai by the Southeast Asia Climate and Nature-based Solutions (SCeNe) Coalition. The members of the SCeNe Coalition are Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, IDH–the Sustainable Trade Initiative, BirdLife International, the Wildlife Conservation Society, Singapore-based Mandai Nature, World Resources Institute (WRI) Indonesia, and WWF-Singapore. The coalition says it developed the tool because it saw that the Southeast Asia region had lots of potential for nature-based…

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin believes that the expansion of the EU civil mission in Armenia will increase tensions in the South Caucasus. “The very appearance of this mission in Armenia is an absolutely useless step in terms of promoting the Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization. We are convinced that the expansion of the EU mission will be absolutely useless and will not yield any result in terms of promoting the normalization, the key principles of which were worked out in November 2020 by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia and enshrined in several trilateral joint statements,” TASS quoted Galuzin as…