Author: Steven Sahiounie

On Friday, Israel announced it had formally “challenged” the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan’s request to issue an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Oren Marmorstein, posted on the platform “X” that “Israel has today officially challenged the ICC’s jurisdiction and the legitimacy of the prosecutor’s requests for arrest warrants against the Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister.” In July, the ICC permitted over 60 governments and organizations to submit legal arguments regarding the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and other officials involved in the Gaza conflict. Prosecutors at the ICC claim there are…

The United States is growing increasingly concerned about the possibility of an Israeli ground invasion into southern Lebanon amid rising tensions with Hezbollah along the border. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal on Friday, recent explosions of communication devices used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday have heightened fears within the U.S. Department of Defense (Pentagon) of a potential ground war in southern Lebanon. However, even before these incidents, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed concerns to senior Pentagon officials during a meeting on Monday. He indicated that he feared Israel might launch an…

Early voting for the U.S. presidential election kicked off on Friday, allowing voters in three states to cast their ballots either in person at early polling stations or by mail ahead of the November 5 election date. Polling centers in Virginia became the first to open for early voting, giving voters the option to vote before Election Day. According to ABC News, these centers will remain open until November 2. While voters in Virginia stand in line at early voting centers, residents of Minnesota and South Dakota also have the opportunity to either vote in person or submit their ballots…

A social media post by Elon Musk in the aftermath of an assassination attempt on US presidential candidate Donald Trump has attracted the attention of the Secret Service, Bloomberg has discovered. An assassin narrowly missed Trump at a July 13 rally in Pennsylvania. On Sunday, a pro-Ukrainian activist was arrested in Florida after setting up an ambush for the Republican nominee at a golf course. “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala ????” Musk posted on X, the social media platform he owns, referring to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Outraged Democrats quickly accused Musk of…

Russian forces have conducted a strike on Ukraine’s key military communications facility, as well as a number of other high-priority targets, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said. In a statement on Thursday, the ministry said that Russian warplanes, drones, missiles and artillery had successfully “hit the main center of special radio communications of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” plus critical airfield infrastructure facilities. Officials did not say where the center was located, nor comment on the extent of the damage. Ukrainian media and officials reported several explosions in Kharkov and Sumy Region, with several blasts also…

President Joe Biden stated that inflation rates and interest rates in the United States have begun to decline. In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, he mentioned inheriting “the worst economic crisis the United States has seen since the Great Depression” four years ago. Biden added, “Now inflation and interest rates are starting to fall.” He emphasized, “There is still more work to be done. I will soon discuss our efforts to lower costs and grow our economy.” These remarks follow the Federal Reserve’s decision to cut interest rates by 50 basis points, signaling the start of monetary…

The Russian military has destroyed a German-made Leopard 2 tank in Russia’s Kursk Region, as Ukraine’s ill-fated attempt to hold on to Russian territory drags on. Video footage shows the tank suffering multiple hits from kamikaze drones. In a statement released on Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that more than 500 casualties had been inflicted on Ukrainian forces throughout Kursk Region in the preceding 24 hours. Two Leopard tanks, four Swedish-made CV-90 infantry fighting vehicles, and dozens of other armored vehicles and pieces of military equipment were destroyed in the same period, the ministry stated. In a video posted…

One person has been killed and another one was wounded in a stabbing attack in the Dutch city of Rotterdam on Thursday evening, police said. The suspect has been detained. The attack occurred near the iconic Erasmus Bridge in the central part of the city. Police said that bysnanders have confronted and “overpowered” the assailant. Police spokesman Wessel Stolle told reporters that the detained suspect was himself injured and was taken to a hospital. Stolle added that investigators haven’t yet determined a motive and were looking “into all possible scenarios.” According to the newspaper De Telegraaf, the suspect was armed with two large knives and…

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that U.S. officials currently believe a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza is unlikely before the end of President Joe Biden’s term in January. The report, citing senior officials from the White House, State Department, and Pentagon, noted that the prospects for an agreement remain uncertain. Earlier, Washington had stated that 90% of a ceasefire deal and the release of hostages had been agreed upon. However, gaps remain concerning Israel’s presence at the Philadelphi Route on Gaza’s border with Egypt and details regarding the release of Palestinian prisoners…

The Israeli military announced that its warplanes targeted Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon in recent hours, striking hundreds of rocket launch sites that were ready to fire toward Israel. According to the military, Israeli fighter jets hit approximately 100 rocket launchers, which included around 1,000 firing positions. The statement added, “The Israel Defense Forces will continue dismantling Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure and capabilities to protect Israel.”