Author: Dwight Mills

Dubai/Astana (10 June – 60). The Pamiris are an ethnic minority group in Tajikistan, culturally distinct from the majority Tajik population. They have faced persecution and discrimination in their mountain homeland bordering Afghanistan that some experts say amounts to ethnic cleansing and even genocide. One of the lead persecutors is Ministry of Internal Affairs “Maj. Gen.” Shorukh Syedzada, a former football team manager with no law enforcement experience and a confidante of the president’s son and heir designate. The Pamiris continue to be marginalized and oppressed by the authorities. As a result, many Pamiris have been forced to flee their…

The US ambassador to the UN on Monday called on all regional countries to stop providing arms support to the warring parties in North African country of Sudan. “Armed actors in Sudan must respect international law and protect civilians, and recall the ICC’s (International Criminal Court) jurisdiction to investigate war crimes,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters, adding: “All regional powers must stop providing weapons to both parties in accordance with the UN arms embargo.” Citing reports that the paramilitary RSF and its allied militias have razed multiple villages west of El Fasher, the largest city in the Darfur, and are planning…

In a powerful demonstration of multilateral solidarity to safeguard a free and open Indo-Pacific region, military services from the United States, Indonesia, Japan, Australia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and France will participate in Super Garuda Shield 2023 at multiple training locations in Indonesia from August 31 to September 13, 2023. Additional observing nations during the exercises will include Brunei, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of Korea, and Timor Leste. “Super Garuda Shield 2023 builds on last year’s tremendous success,” said General Charles Flynn, commanding general of U.S. Army Pacific. “This joint, multinational…

The production of high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU), which is used for small next-generation nuclear reactors, will begin in the United States in October, according to U.S. nuclear energy company Centrus Energy Corp. With Russia being the dominant producer of HALEU, the U.S. has been delayed in developing advanced reactors due to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. By domestically producing the high-performance nuclear fuel, the U.S. intends to become less dependent on Russia. China and Russia have been dominating nuclear power plant construction, while the U.S. has not built a new such plant in many years. However, it seems as if the…

The US government’s credit rating has been downgraded following concerns over the state of the country’s finances and its debt burden. Fitch, one of three major independent agencies that assess creditworthiness, cut the rating from the top level of AAA to a notch lower at AA+. Fitch said it had noted a “steady deterioration” in governance over the last 20 years. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called the downgrade “arbitrary”. It was based on “outdated data” from the period 2018 to 2020, she said. Investors use credit ratings as a benchmark for judging how risky it is to lend money…

OPEC leader Saudi Arabia is extending its oil production cut for at least another month in a move that threatens to drive gasoline and other energy prices even higher. An official source from the Saudi Ministry of Energy told state-run news agency SPA Thursday that the kingdom will extend this voluntary cut of one million barrels per day for the month of September. The source told state media the cut could be extended further and the move is aimed at supporting the stability and balance of oil markets. It’s the second time the kingdom has extended the cut, which was…

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Monday proposed a rule endorsing a broad application of a new federal law extending stronger legal protections to pregnant workers. The EEOC proposal is designed to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which took effect last month after President Joe Biden signed it into law late last year. The commission is tasked with enforcing the law. The PWFA passed Congress with bipartisan support and at the urging of major business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which said it was needed to clarify employers’ legal obligations. The law requires companies to provide pregnant workers with reasonable…

Niger’s ousted leader has urged the US and “entire international community” to help “restore… constitutional order” after last week’s coup. In an opinion piece in the Washington Post, President Mohamed Bazoum said he was writing “as a hostage”. He also warned that the region could fall further under Russian influence, via the Wagner Group which already operates in neighbouring countries. Niger’s West African neighbours have threatened military intervention. Defence chiefs from the region finished a three-day meeting in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, on Friday saying they had drawn up a detailed plan for the use of force for leaders from the regional bloc…

The US dispatched four destroyers and aircraft after 11 Russian and Chinese ships went close to Alaska state, according to a report by WSJ. The United States deployed four navy warships after Russian and Chinese naval forces conducted joint patrols near the Alaskan coast, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). At least 11 Russian and Chinese ships went close to the Aleutian Islands in the northern US state of Alaska, the WSJ report said, adding that the ships never entered US territorial waters and left. They were shadowed by four US destroyers and P-8 Poseidon aircraft. “It is…

As the U.S. struggles with prescription drug shortages, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has advanced a modest plan that she hopes will prod Washington to take decisive action to address weaknesses in the international pharmaceutical supply chain. Noem told reporters at a pharmacy in Sioux Falls last week that her state will expand its stockpiles of certain medications that have been in short supply. The Republican former congresswoman also used the occasion to turn up the heat on the federal Food and Drug Administration, urging the agency to make the U.S. less dependent on foreign suppliers like China and India.…