The US secretary of state has completed a two-day tour of Central Asia, traveling to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and meeting with the Kazakh, Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Tajik and Turkmeni foreign ministers in Astana. What was the point of the trip? And why are US options for challenging Russia and China in the region so dim? Sputnik explains.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up a visit to Central Asia on Wednesday, announcing a $25 million ‘aid’ carrot meant to push countries to diversify trade away from Russia, reiterating US support for “sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity,” and threatening them with the sanctions stick by warning that Washington is “watching compliance” on anti-Russia sanctions “very closely.”
“We’re very conscious of the spillover consequences of Russia’s aggression. We’re doing everything we can to minimize them, to mitigate them and create lots of different opportunities for partners here in Central Asia,” Blinken said during his meeting with Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi on Tuesday.
Blinken also took a break from regional affairs to take a potshot at China, the other major partner of Central Asia besides Russia, accusing Beijing of trying to “have it both ways” by rolling out an Ukraine peace plan while simultaneously “continu[ing] to fuel the flames of” the “fire that Vladimir Putin started” by refusing to join Washington in its global effort to sanction Moscow into submission.
Blinken’s travels took him to the Kazakh capital of Astana, and to Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan.....More Below
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In a statement on Thursday, the IRGC issued a “stern warning” to the enemies after US forces launched strikes against the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas.
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“This response is a serious warning to the enemy that they should know the act of aggression will not go unanswered,” the IRGC emphasized.
The elite military force warned of a “more decisive” response if the enemy repeated any act of aggression.
It also said the responsibility for the consequences of any IRGC response lies with the aggressor.
The statement comes after the IRGC Navy on Thursday forced an American tanker to turn back. The tanker ...
Volker Turk has warned that efforts to advance reparatory justice are facing resistance in “certain quarters,” and urged countries to back Africa’s push.
Reparatory justice for historical crimes, including colonialism, enslavement, and the trade in enslaved Africans, is crucial to dismantling systemic racism, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has said.
Speaking at the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent on Tuesday, Turk linked present-day discrimination against people from the continent to the enduring legacy of colonialism and enslavement.
”Racism and dehumanizing rhetoric continue to permeate public institutions, communities, and online platforms,” he said, according to the UN Press Service. Turk noted that “digital technologies, including AI, are reproducing and amplifying existing biases against people of African descent.”
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The US VP had to defend President Trump’s Gaza policy at a rally on a Georgia college campus.
US Vice President J.D. Vance was forced to defend Washington’s policy in Gaza after he was booed and heckled at a key MAGA event on Wednesday.
Co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is a conservative student group that has long been seen as a strong support base of President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement but is now showing apparent cracks.
Less than 15 minutes into a TPUSA event at the University of Georgia on Wednesday, Vance was interrupted by hecklers over US policy in Gaza, with one audience member shouting, “Jesus Christ does not support genocide!” As he attempted to respond, others shouted, “You’re killing children!” and “You’re bombing children!”
Vance replied by referring to Trump’s achievements as president, including securing a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, something he said the previous administration of Joe Biden failed to do.
“I ...
