Author: Niyaz Ermatov

Singapore 23/10 (28.57). Ten fake websites have been blocked by the Singapore authorities over concerns that they could potentially be used to lay the groundwork for disinformation campaigns here. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said the websites masquerade as Singapore websites by spoofing or using terms associated with Singapore in their domain names and incorporating familiar local features and visuals. Singapore biggest newspaper the Straits Times takes a closer look at the banned websites. Alamak.io The site’s name uses the colloquial expression of shock often used by Singaporeans. It presents itself as a local news…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s Prosecutor General Berik Assylov reported the recovery of assets totaling 262 billion tenge (US$548 million), including $205 million from abroad, during his presentation to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Sept. 19, reported Akorda. Property and shares in enterprises worth 82 billion tenge (US$171 million) were transferred to the asset management company. Agreements for the return of assets valued at 450 billion tenge (US$941 million) were approved. Assylov also reported that 445 investors who invested 8.3 trillion tenge (US$17 billion) in Kazakhstan’s economy received legal assistance. As part of the “prosecutor’s filter,” 500 state body decisions against investors were…

ASTANA — The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) affirmed its commitment to expanding and strengthening cooperation with Kazakhstan to promote sustainable infrastructure development during a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Economy of Kazakhstan Nurlan Baibazarov on Sept.19 in Astana, reported the Prime Minister’s press service. Baibazarov, who also serves as AIIB governor, signed a joint declaration with AIIB Vice President Konstantin Limitovskiy on the intent to develop a three-year investment plan that identifies potential sectors and projects for financing. “We appreciate the prospects for further cooperation with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. I would like to…

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said it is time to rekindle diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine. But both foreign and domestic responses to his proposal have been rather muted. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been trying to rekindle diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine© Thomas Kierok/ZDF/dpa/picture alliance In the halls of the Federal Chancellery in Berlin, it would appear the time for re-doubled diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine has come. In an interview with the German public broadcaster ZDF on Sunday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said: “I believe that now is the moment when…

Brussels/Dushanbe (10/8- 75) Once more Tajikistan comes on the radar screen. Who will be the next president of Tajikistan? How is the ban on the hijab helping the deradicalization of Tajik society? What is the role of the Chinese and Russian influence? And how is the relationship with the European Union coming along? Every year we face a plethora of Tajik issues, for example corruption and drug usage involving officials, now the ban on face veils, or the newest version a ban on black clothes. The desecration of the grave of one of leaders and the promotions of killer squad…

With its thousands of islands and islets grouped into archipelagos, Greece is home to some uniquely beautiful destinations. For a week’s getaway or longer, here is our list of the most beautiful Greek islands by archipelago, from the classics of Santorini and Mykonos in the Cyclades to Rhodes and Patmos in the Dodecanese. The Saronic Islands, the archipelago at the doors of Athens Located in the Aegean Sea, between Attica and the Peloponnese, the Saronic Islands are closest to Athens: the nearest is less than 40 minutes from Piraeus by hydrofoil, the furthest 2h30 at most. Hydra, the elegant, arty…

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…

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…

Former Russian Deputy Defense Minister Tatyana Shevtsova, who officially was dismissed mid-June, fled to France ‘with hundreds of millions of dollars saved in cryptocurrency.’. Tsargrad and other Telegram channels report this with reference to several sources, although confirmation or refutation of this data has not yet been received. If she fled to France, it must be a deal with the French security service, as she is sanctioned in Europe. There is a version that Shevtsova allegedly cooperated with the investigation against the detained generals, trying to avoid her own charges. According to another version, the generals, to reduce their sentences,…

Moscow (28/2).       Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that non-governmental organizations in Central Asia have stepped up their anti-Russian activities amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army. Shoigu said this at the board of the Russian Ministry of Defense on February 27. According to him, there are more than 100 “large pro-Western non-governmental organisations” operating in Central Asia, which have more than 16,000 representative offices and branches. “Against the backdrop of the special military operation, these NGOs have significantly increased their anti-Russian activities in order to reduce military-technical, economic and cultural cooperation between the Central Asian states and Russia.…