Author: Steven Sahiounie

Applications for home purchases have reportedly plunged to a multi-decade low US mortgage rates surged to their highest level in more than two decades at the end of last month, spurred by the Federal Reserve’s campaign to hike interest rates, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing a survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association. According to the trade body, the average 30-year fixed mortgage contract rate rose by 12 basis points in the reporting period – the most since mid-August – and hit 7.53% on Friday. The rate topped 7.5% for the first time since November 2000. This time last year, it…

The bloc may face shortages of natural gas, top managers of the Russian company warn The EU’s energy system is unstable and could face shortages of natural gas, senior managers of Russian energy giant Gazprom said on Tuesday. Gazprom, once the EU’s main gas supplier, reduced its exports to the bloc dramatically last year, following Western sanctions and the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines. The Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which runs under the Baltic Sea and carried natural gas from Russia to the EU, along with the newly built Nord Stream 2, were ruptured by underwater explosions last September,…

Mass protests urging the Armenian prime minister to step down erupted in Yerevan in mid-September over the developments in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is not hungry for power, but believes that his resignation would merely worsen the situation in the country, Pashinyan said in the parliament, commenting on the opposition’s calls that power change hands in the country. “As soon as I am convinced that all challenges will be resolved following my resignation, I’ll do so that very second. Unlike you, I am not addicted to the chair. However, careful analysis shows that if I do this, the…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday he was in the Spanish city of Granada for a summit bringing together leaders from almost 50 European countries.The visit comes as Zelensky lobbies his Western allies for more military aid and air defense systems ahead of what officials warn could be intensified Russian strikes over the winter.“Granada, Spain. Summit of the European Political Community. We will work in joint formats and have important bilateral meetings,” Zelensky said in a social media post.“The key for us, especially before the winter, is to strengthen air defense, and we already have the basis for new…

Saudi Arabia has condemned a terrorist attack in Niger on Monday that targeted soldiers deployed close to the nation’s border with Mali, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Wednesday. At least 29 Nigerien soldiers were killed and many more were seriously injured. More than 100 extremists used homemade explosives in the assault on security forces who were carrying out a clearance operation in the border region of the West African nation, Niger’s defense minister, Lt. Gen. Salifou Mody, said on Monday. It was the second such attack on Nigerien soldiers in the space of a week. The Saudi Ministry of…

The ministry pointed out that exercises at the training grounds are being conducted under the supervision of officers with combat experience gained during the special military operation Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergey Shoigu inspected how combat training is being organized for contractor and volunteer soldiers of Russia’s Combat Army Reserve units at Southern Military District training grounds, the Russian Defense Ministry reported. “Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergey Shoigu has inspected the organization of combat training of contract servicemen and volunteers of Russian Combat Army Reserve units at the training grounds of the Southern Military District. The head of…

A Palestinian youth was injured by Israeli gunfire, while another was detained, during the Israeli occupation forces’ raid, at dawn on Thursday, into Balata refugee camp, east of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus. WAFA correspondent said that large forces of the occupation army, accompanied by a military bulldozer, stormed Balata camp from its southern and northern entrances, amid heavy gunfire. The Red Crescent said that a Palestinian youth was hit by several bullets in his leg and pelvis, noting that he was taken to the hospital. Israeli occupation forces detained local resident Amid Nasr Sawalma after they raided a house in…

The Iranian President has made it clear to the Azerbaijani and Armenian officials his resolute opposition to the opening of the Zangezur Corridor. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi underlined on Wednesday that geopolitical change in the Caucasus is “unacceptable” as it would harm the interests of countries in the region. Raisi made the remarks while hosting Azerbaijani and Armenian officials for talks on the successive developments in the Caucasus, specifically in regard to Azerbaijan’s military campaign in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The Iranian President met with the Secretary of Armenia’s Security Council Armen Grigoryan, where he emphasized the importance of respecting the territorial integrity of…

Three Palestinian youths were injured by Israeli gunfire, while dozens suffered from suffocation, at dawn on Thursday, during confrontations with the Israeli occupation forces after they raided the eastern area of the city of Nablus, to secure the settlers’ storming of the Joseph’s Tomb. The Director of Ambulance and Emergency at the Red Crescent in Nablus, Ahmad Jibril, said that two Palestinians were injured by live bullets in the chest and hand, a third by shrapnel in the back and foot, and a fourth by a gas bomb directly in the head, while 120 others suffered from suffocation. He pointed…

According to the report, Azerbaijan proposed to invite Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to come to the talks, but Paris and Berlin opposed the idea Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has refused to participate in a meeting with the leaders of Armenia, France, Germany and the European Council that was scheduled to take place in the Spanish city of Granada on October 5, the Azerbaijani news agency APA reported. “Azerbaijan has refused to participate in the five-party meeting that was planned to take place in Spain’s Granada on October 5,” the report said. According to the report, Azerbaijan proposed to invite Turkish President…