Author: Steven Sahiounie

The parent companies of the Daily and Sunday Telegraph titles, along with the Spectator, fell into receivership in June, presenting an unusual opportunity for wealthy investors to take charge of a prominent British newspaper conglomerate. The Barclays family is reportedly making an attempt to regain control of the Telegraph newspaper group, with financial backing from Middle Eastern investors. This move comes a few months after they surrendered the struggling business to Lloyds Banking Group due to debts. The parent companies of the Daily and Sunday Telegraph titles, along with the Spectator, fell into receivership in June, presenting an unusual opportunity for wealthy investors to take charge of…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Lebanon’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdallah Bou Habib, shocked the UN on August 25 in New York by rejecting the proposal that is being forced upon Lebanon by the United States Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield. In a surprise act of national defiance, and rejection at being dictated to by Washington, Bou Habib would not acquiesce to moving to Chapter VII. Chapter VI calls for “the peaceful resolution of conflicts,” while Chapter VII “calls for the imposition of Resolution 1701 by force.” At question is the yearly renewal of a UN mandate of the United Nations…

The Israeli occupation authorities today demolished a Palestinian-owned two-story house in an area east of the southern West Bank city of Hebron known as al-Bouira, according to WAFA correspondent. He said that Israeli forces accompanied a bulldozer to the area, leveled land and demolished the house owned by a local resident. The army sealed off the area and prevented journalists and people from reaching it as the bulldozer proceeded to demolish the house. Al-Bouira and nearby al-Baqa’a, considered the Hebron food basket, are facing a frenzied campaign by the occupation forces and settlers. Agricultural lands are bulldozed, homes demolished, and…

Earlier, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Vladimir Putin would not travel to the G20 meeting in India Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will head the Russian delegation at the Group of 20 summit in India at the request of President Vladimir Putin, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS. “At the request of the Russian president, the delegation will be headed by Lavrov,” the diplomat said. Earlier, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Putin would not travel to the G20 meeting in India. India has held the presidency of the G20 since December 1, 2022. The summit in…

The world’s largest automaker says that it has opened an investigation into the glitch, but it is unlikely that it was caused by a cyber attack. Toyota suspended operations in all of its 14 factories in Japan due to a system failure, the company said on Tuesday. While initially halting 12 plants, the world’s largest automaker later stopped operations at the remaining 2, citing a system glitch. Toyota said that the losses incurred due to the incident remain unclear and that it has opened an investigation into that matter. A cyber attack on one of its subsidiaries last year forced…

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi inaugurates Phase 11 of the South Pars gas field, which is the world’s largest holding 51 trillion cubic meters of natural gas Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi inaugurated phase 11 of the South Pars gasfield on Monday, which was built by local contractors. The head of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Mohsen Khojasteh Mehr revealed that the gasfield will have 24 wells to extract fossil fuels from and will generate $5 billion a year once it goes into full production. “The development of South Pars Phase 11 is one of the NIOC’s most strategic and important plans and…

The Japanese Self-Defense Forces, with their current capabilities, cannot ensure the country’s security in the face of regional and global challenges, Chief of Staff of the Japanese Joint Staff Gen. Yoshihide Yoshida said on Tuesday. “We cannot maintain Japan’s security with our current capabilities,” Yoshida told the Nikkei Asia news portal. He noted that in order to boost the country’s armed forces, the Japanese government approved three defense documents, confirming its plans to increase military spending to 2% of GDP by 2027, among other things. “There are two things Japan must do. First, we must fundamentally strengthen our defensive capabilities…

The Russian air defense systems shot down two Ukrainian drones over Russia’s Tula Region, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday. “This morning, an attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack on objects on the territory of the Russian Federation using two aircraft-type drones was thwarted. The unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed by air defense forces on duty over the territory of Tula Region,” the ministry said. The foiled attack comes on the heels of multiple thwarted efforts by the Ukrainian regime. Since hostilities kicked off between Ukraine and Russia, the Kiev regime has continued to…

Beijing wants to increase production at its mining operation in the country China is planning a major expansion of copper mining in Serbia as demand for the metal, which is crucial for global energy transition, is expected to overrun supply, Bloomberg reported on Monday. Zijin Mining Group, China’s largest gold miner and one of the country’s top copper producers, is due to boost the extraction of copper in its Cukaru Peki copper and gold mine in Eastern Serbia, the outlet said. The company opened the Cukaru Peki works about two years ago and has already invested $678 million to bring…

Property costs globally saw year-on-year growth of 3.6%, according to consultancy Knight Frank Property prices in Türkiye saw a year-on-year increase of 132% in the first quarter of 2023, according to the Global House Price Index released by real estate consultancy Knight Frank.   House prices in Ankara, Izmir, and Istanbul grew by 135.3%, 133%, and 127.3% respectively, marking the biggest increases across the country. The sharp jump in property prices was recorded after a series of powerful earthquakes struck the Turkish-Syrian border region in February, killing more than 51,000 people in Türkiye alone. Ankara has estimated the cost of the…