Author: Steven Sahiounie

The Palestinian Authority says it is taking necessary steps to prepare for President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership to travel to the besieged Gaza Strip. In a statement carried by the official news agency Wafa, the PA said these steps are being taken to ensure that “the president and leadership are with their people who are being subject to genocide, and to ensure national unity”. On August 15, Abbas pledged to travel to Gaza. Addressing the Turkish parliament in Ankara, Abbas also called on Muslim leaders to join him in the enclave. “I have decided to go to Gaza…

Colombian President Gustavo Petro signed a presidential decree today banning coal exports to Israel. The Colombian president said that the ban on coal exports aims to put pressure on the Netanyahu government to end the war on Gaza. Last June, the Colombian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism called for restrictions on coal sales to Israel. Last May, the Colombian President announced the severing of diplomatic relations between his country and Israel, describing Netanyahu’s government as genocidal. Source: WAFA

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister discussed with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ending the war in Gaza and developments in Sudan and Yemen during a phone call on Sunday, the Kingdom’s foreign ministry said. The call between Prince Faisal bin Farhan and the top US diplomat came as Blinken arrived in Israel on Sunday on a Middle East tour aimed at pushing parties involved in the Gaza conflict to agree to a ceasefire deal. He will meet with senior Israeli officials on Monday, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a senior State Department official said. Following his trip to Israel, Blinken will continue onto Egypt. Source: Arab…

According to a survey conducted jointly by The Washington Post, ABC broadcaster, and Ipsos on Sunday, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is supported by up to 50% of US voters, slightly ahead of Donald Trump, who is supported by 45% of probable voters. Harris leads Trump by 4 percentage points among those who are already registered to vote and 53% of respondents thought Harris is better qualified to be president, while 47% said Trump is. If additional candidates were on the ballot, which is not the case in every state, 47% would vote for Harris and 44% for Trump. In…

The Jordanian Armed Forces and the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation (JHCO) sent 118 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid to Gaza during the second week of August. According to a JHCO statement issued Sunday, the aid trucks were loaded with ready-made meals, food and health parcels, clothes, blankets, medical supplies, tents, mattresses and blood units. The JHCO Secretary-General, Hussein Shabli, said the organisation is sending aid to the people in Gaza through convoys weekly, loaded directly from the organisation’s warehouses. Shabli added that work is ongoing to meet the needs of the people in Gaza in light of the “difficult” circumstances…

Sudan has been stricken by a cholera outbreak that has killed nearly two dozen people and sickened hundreds more in recent weeks, health authorities said Sunday. The African nation has been roiled by a 16-month conflict and devastating floods.Health Minister Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim said in a statement that at least 22 people have died from the disease, and that at least 354 confirmed cases of cholera have been detected across the county in recent weeks.Ibrahim didn’t give a time frame for the deaths or the tally since the start of the year. The World Health Organization, however, said that 78…

Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrive in Baku for a state visit. His talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev are expected to focus on the current state of and prospects for the further development of bilateral relations, as well as pressing issues on the international and regional agenda. At the airport, the Russian leader was welcomed by Azerbaijani First Deputy Prime Minister Yagub Eyyubov. The two exchanged greetings. The welcoming delegation also included Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Samir Sharifov and Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia Polad Bulbuloglu. After greeting the Azerbaijani officials, Putin proceeded to an Aurus limousine and left the…

Azerbaijan would like to join BRICS, the republic’s Ambassador to Moscow Polad Bulbuloglu said in an interview with TASS before Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Baku. “There is a long queue of those willing to join BRICS. Azerbaijan has indeed stated such willingness. We have talked about it with our Russian colleagues, but this process and issue is in progress,” he said when asked whether Baku has officially applied for joining the integration. The BRICS group, established in 2006, first expanded in 2011, when South Africa joined the four founding nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China. The decision…

The agreements reached in Istanbul could become a basis for the start of new peace talks on Ukraine, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in an interview for the News of the Week program on the Rossiya-1 TV channel, adding that the situation on the ground has already changed, which should also be taken into account. “If coming to the negotiating table a question arises: <…> what to start with? He [Russian President Vladimir Putin] has suggested correctly, from the ground, to start from what we stopped at in Istanbul. <…> Indeed, the situation on the ground has changed, but we…

Israeli Prime Minister plans to meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Jerusalem on August 19, Dmitry Gendelman, an advisor to the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told TASS. “[Netanyahu’s] meeting with Blinken will begin at ten in the morning tomorrow (August 19 – TASS) <…> in Jerusalem,” he said. Source: TASS