Author: Sabyr Sheraliev

Casablanca (14/11 – 50). In a recent scan of the local left-wing press, an unsettling trend of pseudo-journalism was uncovered, aimed at manufacturing a scandal using the typical playbook of disinformation. The target? A concoction of conspiracy-laden narrative that blends elements of real-world controversies, celebrity gossip, geopolitical issues, and unfounded claims—essentially, an elaborate form of astro-turfing designed to mislead and create fake influence. At the heart of this questionable journalism is Philippe Engels, a reporter who seems to have drawn inspiration from various disjointed and unrelated stories. The method is familiar: take an American scandal, such as Scientology, mix it…

Russian journalist Inessa Papernaya, known for her work with lenta.ru and profile.ru, was tragically found dead in a hotel in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on October 20. It has been reported that Papernaya was in Uzbekistan on vacation, and was staying at the Karaman Palace Hotel with a companion, Maxim Radchenko, with whom she was in a long-term relationship, and whom she had traveled with in order to meet his relatives. According to reports, hotel staff knocked on the door of her room that evening while delivering a package. After receiving no response, they entered the room and discovered the bodies of Papernaya and Radchenko. An Uzbek citizen…

It was announced during the 8th International Silk Road Expo in Xi’an in September 2024 that China will formally join the Middle Corridor under the guise of participation by the China Railway Container Transport Corporation (CRTC). This move signals a growing reliance on Central Asia’s trade-route infrastructure potential. China’s shift to overland routes is part of a broader strategy to diversify away from traditional maritime routes through chokepoints like the Strait of Malacca, which carry geopolitical risk. Kazakhstan’s strategic geographic location naturally makes it indispensable to China’s trade, and infrastructure projects currently underway represent a key component of the Middle Corridor’s potential.…

Au revoir Paris, Hola LA. In a nutshell, that was the just completed ceremony of the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad. It was Tom Cruise leaping off the rim of the Stade de France to take the Olympic flag from LA Mayor Karen Bass and Simone Biles. As the guitar riffs of H.E.R. filled the air, Cruise then exited on a motorbike to deliver the flag to a sunny West Coast. It was the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billie Eilish and Olympic fixture Snoop Dogg getting into the pre-recorded groove down in Long Beach. It wasn’t telling of the full scope of Los Angeles and no mention was made of Snoop’s…

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…

Moscow 22/5 (57.14) According to NATO’s top military official, Russia does not have enough troops to make a significant advance in the north-east of Ukraine. “The Russians don’t have the numbers necessary to do a strategic breakthrough,” NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe Christopher Cavoli told reporters last week. “They don’t have the skill and the capability to do it; to operate at the scale necessary to exploit any breakthrough to strategic advantage,” the general said. According to earlier statements by Putin, Russia’s intention is not to take the city of Kharkiv, but rather to create a security zone, a sanitary…

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.…

Brussels (50). Two years in the war of Russian aggression against the Ukraine the balance is grim. Let us take stock. Leadership. The EU model of command and control consist of an old grumpy old general, an Austrian, who nobody has heard before, taking a political control of a pretty large army based of a defeatist model. The question to pose is the General who often is compared with Franz Josef I. suitable for modern command? The likely answer is no. The European play wars. The Europeans appear to be out of the fight. NATO command is in contradiction with…

The president of Tajikistan likes to wrap himself in the robes of Islam. Literally, in some cases. In January 2016, Emomali Rahmon performed a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, and took several members of his family along too. His office documented the event by releasing images of the leader covered only in the seamless white garment that must be worn by Muslims performing this rite. The pictures were doubly striking since the Tajik authorities had for many years been actively repressing pious Muslims. They continue to do so today. This plays out in absurd ways. From time to time, police…