Author: Muntaha Musaaid

Geneva (21/11) Following the publication of a report by the presidential committee, which dismissed the Channel 4 documentary on the Easter Sunday attacks, Azad Maulana – who has been in regular contact with Ravi Seneviratne and Shane Abeysekara via the Signal app – has confirmed that he will cooperate with an investigation led by them. Maulana also revealed that Nishantha Silva Kandappa, a former officer in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), a refuge in Switzerland, has been in regular contact with him. He further disclosed that he did not respond to the presidential committee’s inquiry due to the influence of…

The cybersecurity agencies of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance (the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada and New Zealand) issued a warning on Tuesday that hackers were increasingly exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities to access their targets’ networks. It marks a significant departure from similar advisories issued in 2022 and 2021, when the agencies warned that malicious cyber actors were exploiting older software vulnerabilities more frequently than recently disclosed ones. In a co-authored advisory, the agencies list the top 15 most routinely exploited vulnerabilities of 2023, with CVE-2023-3519 — an issue affecting Citrix’s networking product NetScalers — being the most widely used. Reports around the time…

Terrorist group widening inroads among Caucasus extremists. Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, Islamic State Khurasan Province (ISKP) has emerged as the most globally ambitious and active branch in both its operations and propaganda of all radical Islamic groups. ISKP is presently implementing a regionalization and internationalization strategy that has increasingly focused on extending its reach into Central Asia, as well as appealing to associated diaspora elements elsewhere, especially in Russia. The movement’s Central Asian contingent has accounted for a notable share of ISKP-linked activity outside of Afghanistan, but a rising number of instances of terrorist activity are more recently involving Russian nationals, Chechens, and others from its Caucasus region. Jihadism expert Aaron Zelin’s dataset found ISKP to be linked to 12 plots in 2023…

On the 75th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, President Xi Jinping awarded Bayika Kalidibek, a 72-year-old veteran border guard, the national honorary title of “People’s Guard.” Bayika, an ethnic Tajik from the Pamir Plateau in Xinjiang, has spent 37 years patrolling China’s remote borders with Tajikistan’s Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region and Afghanistan’s Wakhan Corridor. His recognition by Xi has raised questions about whether the award signals a broader message of solidarity to the Pamiri peoples living in Tajikistan and Afghanistan, who have faced significant repression and human rights violations in recent years. A Lifelong Guardian of China’s Border Bayika…

The Czechs have never forgotten that allies handed over their Sudetenland Province to Hitler in 1938 after the German dictator promised it would be “last territorial demand I have to make in Europe.” The Czechs have never forgotten that allies handed over their Sudetenland Province to Hitler in 1938 after the German dictator promised it would be “the last territorial demand I have to make in Europe.” Months later, Nazis occupied their country and waged war in Europe and around the world for seven more years, killing tens of millions. To many today, Ukraine is the next Sudetenland as it…

Tajikistan’s existential project to build the colossal 335-meter-high Roghun hydropower dam is proceeding apace, but costs are spiraling, and to a level that is making it hard to see where the government is going to find the funds needed to finish the work. To complicate matters for Dushanbe, this is happening against the backdrop of calls from environmental watchdogs for international development lenders to pause the allocation of any future funds to Tajikistan pending a fresh assessment of the project. The extent of the budget overshoot is striking. In a press conference on February 16, Finance Minister Faiziddin Kahhorzoda revealed…

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…

Tashkent 24/2/ (50). In Tajikistan, over 20% of the population lives in poverty, and millions of citizens have emigrated to Russia to find work. Meanwhile, a feudal elite under President Emomali Rahmon has ravaged the country with corruption, nepotism, and massive drug smuggling of Afghan heroin to Russia and Europe. Although Rahmon’s successor and son, Rustam Emomali, has been increasingly in the headlines, adopting a presidential look, his stiff and awkward appearance reveals a man seemingly afraid of his shadow. Sources inside the country’s security apparatus report that he is in conflict with his powerful sisters, including Ozada, the head…

In the whirlwind of Sri Lankan politics, last week’s visit by Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) to India carved a narrative that has both intrigued and polarised the political arena. This spectacle showcased the delicate art of political communication, underscoring the critical importance of reputation management and the nuanced dance of damage control in the face of adversity. For years, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), questioning authority and challenging the status quo, found itself in an unfamiliar position – defending rather than accusing. The controversial trip to India marked a turning point. Critics pounced, dissecting every word, every move, with relentless…

PA President’s son Tareq Abbas also holds positions in other ventures incorporated by offshore company. Leaked documents from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca reveal Tareq Abbas, son of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, holds shares worth nearly $1 million in an offshore company with ties to the Palestinian Authority. The documents, leaked as part of the massive ‘Panama Papers’ scandal, show that a company called the Arab Palestinian Investment Company (APIC) was registered in September 1994 in the British Virgin Islands. Since then, the company’s economic portfolio has grown substantially, and is active in virtually every Palestinian economic sphere, including…