What’s new? The Taliban have ordered the most sweeping rollbacks of women’s rights since retaking power in 2021, part of a series of escalating moves to enforce the group’s heterodox conservatism. Girls and women are losing access to education, employment and public spaces as well as other basic freedoms. Why did it happen? The Taliban leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, appears to insist upon […]

Throughout nine years of conflict in Ukraine, Russia has leaned heavily on disinformation as part of the war effort. Russian-backed/aligned disinformation campaigns and narratives have primarily sought to undermine support for Ukraine and amplify anti-US and anti-NATO sentiments on a global scale. With Chinese support for Russia showing increased strength of late – rather than abating – it seems likely […]

« L’impérialisme stade suprême du capitalisme ». Je ne suis pas loin d’envisager que c’est la Chine qui récoltera l’essentiel de la gloire de la victoire de la Russie ! Le fait nouveau de la situation c’est l’implication de la Chine. Elle vient coup sur coup de prendre plusieurs initiatives historiques. Cette semaine, la Chine a fait ce qui pourrait […]

The Pentagon plans to quadruple the number of American troops in Taiwan and Taipei is to send a combined arms battalion to the United States, both for training purposes in the face of a growing threat from China, according to media reports. The United States will deploy between 100 and 200 troops to Taiwan to bolster a training program for […]

Giving the United States greater access to Philippine military bases would allow the superpower to respond more swiftly to flashpoints in the region, as potential conflicts brew in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, analysts say. The U.S. and Philippine defense secretaries announced recently that the allies had struck a deal for granting American forces access to four more […]

During the week ended on February 24, 2023, Pakistan Stock Exchange remained volatile due to news flows regarding the IMF deal and approval of Financial Supplementary Bill for raising additional taxes of PKR170 billion Unease amongst the participants increased as T-Bills cut-offs in the latest auction by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) went up to 19.95%, contributing to the fears […]

At a press conference on 28 May 2020, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told reporters that China was considering joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Following Li’s comments, Wendy Cutler, former US chief negotiator of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, argued that China’s interest should be taken seriously because the economic reforms that China would be required to undertake […]

Uzbekistan does not possess nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons and is a member of the Central Asia Nuclear Weapons Free-Zone Treaty. That is the good news. However, the disturbing news is a 2018 agreement with Russia’s state atomic energy corporation Rosatom to build a nuclear power plant in Uzbekistani territory. While Tashkent needs additional power sources, the nuclear plant is […]