Author: Gisbert Bouchard

Copenhagen, Berlin (11/8 – 42) The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) highlighted severe restrictions imposed by the Tajikistani government on religious freedom during a virtual hearing on July 20, 2023. The commission expressed grave concern over the intensified persecution targeting the Pamiri Ismaili Muslim population of Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO). Source: https://www.uscirf.gov/events/hearings/religious-freedom-tajikistan-policy-options-country-particular-concern A Pattern of Repression Since 2009, Tajikistan has enacted a complex web of laws to monitor, control, and restrict religious practices. Not only are women and children under 18 prohibited from attending public religious services, but unregistered religious communities are also denied the right to…

Frankfurt, Brussels (21/7 – 37) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has once again reversed course, approving Sweden’s bid to join the legacy European military bloc, having been promised a brace of classic F-16 fighter jets. This new deal was hammered out at the recent NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, and included a vow by Türkiye to avoid quarrels with ancient enemy Greece also a NATO member. During a 12 July press conference on in Vilnius, Erdogan touched on several issues important for Türkiye, including ratifying Sweden’s NATO bid, its F-16 jet deal with the US, and a “balancing act” between…

France will send a ship equipped with a deep-sea diving vessel to help the search-and-rescue operation for a disappeared submersible that took wealthy tourists to visit the site of the Titanic wreckage, the French government said on Tuesday. The ship, called the Atalante, is managed by the Ifremer research institute. Ifremer said it had been contacted on Monday by the U.S. Navy with a request for help. “It carries the Victor 6000 autonomous robot, capable of descending to a depth of 6,000 metres, beyond the 3,800 metres of the wreck’s position”, Ifremer said, adding the ship was expected to arrive on the…

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir says his recent working visit to Paris was to maintain the positive momentum and further strengthen bilateral relations between Malaysia and France. He said efforts would be made to enhance bilateral cooperation especially in sectors of mutual benefit such as education, defence, trade, investment and health. In a Facebook post on Saturday (June 3), Zambry said he had the opportunity to exchange views during a meeting with his counterpart Catherine Colonna. Zambry said he also expressed Malaysia’s views on regional and international issues of mutual interest. “This is to enable both countries…

Influencers in France could now face jail time if they are found to have broken new promotion regulations, after legislation was formally adopted on Thursday. The tough new laws aim to protect consumers from misleading or fake commercial practices online. They restrict the promotion of lottery and betting games, and ban the advertisement of items such as tobacco. It is the first time the role has been legally defined in Europe. The cross-party legislation was passed unanimously in a Senate vote on Wednesday after making its way through the rest of parliament. Influencers are online personalities who have large numbers…

The UK has a strong, growing relationship and cooperates closely with Uzbekistan in a number of areas: from trade, security, private sector development, and economic governance to education, and climate change, UK ambassador to Uzbekistan Tim Torlot said. According to the ambassador, in order to support governance and private sector development of Uzbekistan, the UK government created a special flagship program. “The UK is committed to supporting economic governance and private sector development through our flagship program, “Effective Governance for Economic Development” (EGED), which aims to support the Uzbek Government and citizens in effective, evidence-based design and delivery of economic…

Nexans is launching a new range of low-carbon distribution grid cables, the first on the French market. By adopting a holistic approach all along the value chain and throughout the cable life cycle, the Group has succeeded in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of its low- and medium-voltage cables from 35% to 50%, depending on the products. “This unprecedented offer represents a new stage, fully illustrating the Group’s commitment to decarbonised electrification. We are proud to introduce it in France: this illustrates the commitment of our teams to sustainable development, from our global Ampacity R&D center in Lyon to our factories,…

A drone was spotted at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport today. The drone was seen by airport workers during the landing of the Nordstar passenger plane. This is reported by the telegram channel 112. It is reported that the landing took place in the normal mode, operational services are working on the spot. Recall that yesterday an unknown UAV was seen in Serpukhov , 70 km from Moscow. Later, Telegram channels reported that this was a police check for efficiency during the exercises. Earlier in the Russian Federation they said that a fallen Ukrainian drone was found in the Moscow region . It is reported that the remains of…

Hungary advocating for the ceasefire in Ukraine does not mean accepting that Russia would keep the territories it currently occupies, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in an interview with Associated Press published on March 26. According to Szijjártó, “stopping the war and sitting around the table does not mean that you accept the status quo.” “When the war stops and the peace talks start, it’s not necessary that the borders would be where the front lines are. We know this from our own history as well… Ceasefire has to come now.” Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year,…

France has banned not only TikTok from government phones, but Facebook and Twitter, too. Could this be a tipping point for big tech? Plus, AI-generated pictures of the pope signal a new type of viral image Government workers in the UK, US, Canada and European Union (the list will have grown by the time you read this) are banned from installing TikTok on their phones. On Friday, France joined that list, preventing its civil servants from installing TikTok – and everything else. From the government’s press release (original in French): After an analysis of the issues, in particular security, the…