Author: Madona Nakani

A “day of silence” began in Armenia at midnight. No campaigning is allowed from this moment until the end of voting in the elections to the Council of Elders of Yerevan at 20:00 local time on September 17. The representative body of Yerevan is elected according to a proportional system, i.e. according to party lists. This practice has been used in Yerevan since 2009, and the upcoming elections on Sunday will be the 5th in this format. Persons heading the proportional lists of political parties and alliance are candidates for the Mayor of Yerevan. If any force receives an absolute…

Paris, Brussels, Kiev (11 June – 75) This meeting followed Macron’s announcement that France would be supplying Mirage combat aircraft to Ukraine, bolstering the country’s defense against Russia’s aggression. Zelenskyy’s visit to France coincided with his quest for additional Western support, particularly as Ukrainian forces battled fiercely to repel a Russian offensive near the eastern city of Kharkiv. The conflict, escalating rapidly, has become the largest in Europe since World War II, underscoring the urgent need for international solidarity and assistance. Amidst these grave circumstances, the diplomatic exchange between France and Ukraine exemplifies the crucial alliance and shared commitment to…

Kiev, London (25/3 – 50) Kiev is being bombed by the Russians, but despite the dangers the indiscriminate bombing brings, Ukrainians have their humor, and a bit of the “so what” attitude. Let’s call her Maria, because we don’t know her correct name and we don’t want to endanger the young coffee aficionado to targeted Russian attacks targeting the Ukrainian spirit of everything can be fixed with a good cup of coffee. The young Ukrainian barista keeps working despite today’s Russian missile strike destroying large parts of her cafe. “They won’t be able to break us,” Maria tells the reporter…

A Pole, a German, a Frenchmen, and a Swiss meet in a bar, or was it a Swiss, a French, a German, and a Slovak, I forgot. However, what otherwise sounded like the beginning of a quirky joke was in fact an informal luncheon by some of the brightest analysts of the European Union in early December last year. Nationalities aside, the topic of the lunch was, of course, the Ukraine. The basic question was simple, Are We at War? Will Russia win? What’s the consequence for Europe if Russia wins? What is the European Union willingness to defend the…

UK intelligence emphasizes that efforts to overcome ground-based air defense systems remain one of the most important confrontations in the Russian war against Ukraine. This is stated in the review of the British Ministry of Defense on December 3, European Pravda reports. The department noted that the Tor short-range anti-aircraft missile system plays a critical role for the occupying forces of the Russian Federation. It is in service with air defense units of the Russian Army and is designed to protect the front line of ground forces. At the same time, the Pantsir air defense systems usually protect command posts, longer-range air defense…

Much like its ideological counterparts at HispanTV (Iranian-owned) and Actualidad RT (Russian-owned), Telesur wraps its incitement into a sophisticated and slick twenty-four-hour news platform through its website, broadcasts, and social media presence. Though it is difficult to gauge its influence, numbers suggest that Telesur’s message is impactful. Telesur has two million followers on its Spanish X account, 117,500 on its English X account, and more than half a million on Instagram. Its YouTube account has over 1.7 million subscribers, with 100,000 new subscribers and almost 7.4 million video views since October 7 (It also posts its videos on the Daily Motion). The network traditionally pushes out conspiracy theories, fake news, “whataboutism,”…

Russia is losing manpower at pace, says Ukraine, whose army has been mostly on the defensive in recent days. Russia has tried to smash through Ukraine’s eastern defences before the onset of winter, incurring huge losses during the 92nd week of the war. Between November 22 and 24, Russia unleashed what Ukraine said was the third major attempt to capture Avdiivka in two months, sending about 50 assaults supported by armour. On one day alone, Ukraine’s military said it had “eliminated” 1,100 Russian soldiers and 30 tanks. “There is an average number of eight to 16 to 18 air attacks…

Gov. Brian Kemp announced Monday that he will introduce new legislation to “accelerate” what he says will be the largest income tax cut in Georgia history. At the Georgia Capital, Kemp was joined by first lady Marty Kemp, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, Speaker Jon Burns, and state lawmakers to announce plans to pass an amendment to HB 1437. The current bill would provide a step down of 10 basis points to Georgia’s income tax rate starting in 2025. The decrease would continue every taxable year until the rate reached 4.99%. Officials say the acceleration would leave the rate for Tax Year…

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a call on Monday that recent American actions in support of Armenia had jeopardised U.S.-Azerbaijani ties, Baku said on Tuesday. The two countries had enjoyed relatively cordial relations until Azerbaijani forces recaptured the largely ethnic Armenian-populated breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh in a lightning offensive in September. The United States provided diplomatic backing for Armenia, which had supported Karabakh’s separatist authorities, and U.S. officials visited Yerevan in the days after the offensive. In a statement, Aliyev’s office said Aliyev had told Blinken that “the latest statements and actions taken…

Iran on Monday said it opposes any “geopolitical changes” in the Caucasus, where it has long been angered over Azerbaijan’s desire to set up a transport link along the Armenian-Iranian border. Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani, while voicing support for Azerbaijan’s reclamation of the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region last month, said Tehran is “against making geopolitical changes in the region and this is our clear position.” He was referring to the Zangezur land corridor which would connect mainland Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhchivan and then to Turkiye. Relations between Baku and Tehran have been traditionally sour, as Turkic-speaking Azerbaijan is…