Author: M Barbu

That ‘Liberal, Post-Modern’ Life

It was aimed at explaining – and insulting – Russians but it wound up illuminating a lot more beyond Russia. In an April 12 interview on German television, German researcher Florence Gaub (a citizen of both Germany and France) said the following:

“We should not forget that, even if Russians look European, they are not European. In a cultural sense, they think differently about violence or death. They have no concept of a liberal, post-modern life. A concept of life than each individual can choose. Instead, life can end early with death. Russian life expectancy is quite low, you know, 70 years for men. That is why they treat death differently, that people simply die.”[1]

With Russian Route Blocked, Uzbekistan Looks to Indian-Iranian-Afghan Chabahar Port Project

The Russo-Ukraine war, the extensive Western sanctions against Russia, and the growing possibility that European border states will block east-west transit corridors traversing Russian territory into Europe are having far-reaching implications for the landlocked countries of Central Asia, which have historically relied on road and rail corridors through Russia to reach markets there and beyond. Prior to the war, Russia, Ukraine, Poland and Belarus had all hoped to be part of the “New Eurasian Land Bridge” linking Europe to East Asia. But those aims were derailed when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale re-invasion of Ukraine on February 24. This has created a severe headache for China, endangering as it does its Belt and Road Initiative’s (BRI) northern route, which crossed Russia and the Black Sea via Central Asia (South China Morning Post, March 12).

Anger as hate preacher Anjem Choudary blames BRITAIN for ‘radicalising’ David Amess killer Ali Harbi Ali – after terrorist watched his extremist videos

Hate preacher Anjem Choudary has blamed Britain’s foreign policy in Syria and Iraq for radicalising David Amess’ killer.

Ali Harbi Ali, 26, was handed a rare whole life tariff after being convicted of murder and preparing terrorist acts on Monday by jurors who spent just 18 minutes deliberating.

ISIS killer El Shafee ElSheikh convicted

Elsheikh’s defence attorneys argued that the government had failed to prove he was one of the “Beatles” but the 12-person jury disagreed, convicting him of all charges.

A US federal jury in Virginia convicted on Thursday, after an 11-day trial, an ex-British jihadist over his involvement with a notorious Islamic State (ISIS) terror cell.

Dutch ISIS recruits ‘held frontline roles’ despite their protestations

Dutch ISIS recruits held pivotal roles in the terrorist group — not the minor roles they have claimed — and they should be held fully accountable for their crimes, a report from the Counter Extremist Project think tank says.

Claims that they were radicalised and groomed online have also been dismissed after evidence has emerged that many were members of extremist group Sharia4Holland — an offshoot of Britain’s Anjem Choudary’s banned Al-Muhajiroun group.

Riots erupt in Sweden’s Orebro ahead of right-wing extremist demonstration

Violent riots erupted in the central Swedish city of Orebro on Friday as counter-protesters attacked police ahead of a planned right-wing extremist demonstration.

Police said on its website that four police cars had been set on fire and at least four police officers and one private individual had been injured as protesters threw stones and large groups attacked police cordons and tore down riot fences.

Kosovo welcomes first Ukrainian journalist refugee

Open Democracy journalist Lyudmila Makey is the first Ukrainian journalist displaced by the war to move to Kosovo under the ‘Journalist in Residence’ scheme.

“I thank all of you for enabling me to come to Kosovo. This programme will allow me to continue to work as a journalist. I am deeply touched by the fact that complete strangers want to help us,” Makey said upon her arrival in Pristina.

Republika Srpska would postpone competency transfer decision

Serb entity Republika Srpska would defer the decision transferring competencies from the central state government to the entity level that parliament adopted last year, Milorad Dodik, the Serb member of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s tripartite presidency, told Serbian daily Politika in an interview.

Petition against Russia sanctions presented in Belgrade

A petition against imposing sanctions on Russia was presented in Belgrade on Monday after signatures were collected from 200 public figures, including the academics Matija Becković, Kosta Čavoški and Vasilije Krestić, Serbian Orthodox Church bishops Irinej and David, filmmaker Emir Kusturica and former ambassador to Russia, Slavenko Terzić.