Author: Steven Sahiounie

Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that Kiev’s drone attacks on the peninsula and S-200 missile attacks on the Crimean Bridge were repelled Ukraine’s acts of sabotage will be responded in kind, as such barbaric steps cannot be justified, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said commenting on Ukrainian attempts to attack Crimea and the Crimean Bridge. “Such acts of sabotage provides the international community with a change to see for themselves the true colors of the Kiev regime. Such barbaric actions cannot be justified, and they will not remain without a response,” Zakharova said in a statement published by…

There was no damage or casualties The Kiev regime has made another attempt to hit the Crimean bridge with an S-200 missile converted into a ground-attack weapon, but the Russian air defenses shot it down in midair, the Russian Defense Ministry told reporters. “On August 12 at about 3:00 p.m. Moscow time, the Kiev regime made another attempt to carry out a terrorist strike on the Crimean Bridge, using an S-200 surface-to-air missile reequipped for attacking ground targets. Russian air defense systems spotted the Ukrainian missile and shot it down in midair,” the ministry said, adding that there was no…

President Mahmoud Abbas will travel to Egypt tomorrow, Sunday, on an official visit at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to participate the Egyptian-Jordanian-Palestinian tripartite summit. Palestine’s ambassador to Egypt, Diab al-Louh, said that the tripartite summit, which brings together Presidents Mahmoud Abbas and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and the Jordanian monarch, King Abdullah II, in the city of El-Alamein, will discuss the various issues at the Arab, regional and international levels in order to unify their positions on how to deal with the political, regional and international movements. The three leaders will also discuss the latest developments in the…

Syria affirmed that the crime of the American occupation forces and its terrorist organizations by targeting a bus of the Syrian Arab Army in the countryside of Deir Ezzor comes within the framework of the American escalation against Syria’s sovereignty and independence and in the context of the United States’ support and sponsorship of terrorist organizations. “Yesterday, the American occupation forces committed a new crime, as they and their terrorist organizations targeted a bus carrying a number of members of the Syrian Arab Army southeast of Deir Ezzor, which resulted in the death of a number of soldiers and the…

WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that the United States would offer no sanctions relief to Iran under a draft deal that would free five Americans.“In any event, in any respect, Iran will not be receiving any sanctions relief,” Blinken told reporters when asked about the expected release of $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds.“Iran’s own funds would be used and transferred to restricted accounts such that the monies can only be used for humanitarian purposes,” he said.Blinken said that the United States has been in contact with the families of five Americans freed from prison to house…

BEIRUT: A preliminary forensic audit of Lebanon’s central bank by professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal has painted a damning picture of the institution under former Governor Riad Salameh. Caretaker Finance Minister Youssef Khalil presented copies of the report on Banque du Liban to caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and other lawmakers on Friday. It comprises 332 pages in 14 sections and details complex accounting, banking and administrative operations. The report comes after the US Treasury on Thursday announced sanctions on Salameh, as well as his son Nadi Salameh, brother Raja Salameh, assistant Marianne Howayek and…

WASHINGTON: The US imposed new sanctions on Friday on four Russians linked to financial and investment conglomerate Alfa Group and a Russian business association, the Treasury Department said in a statement announcing the latest measures targeting Moscow’s financial elite over the war in Ukraine.The Treasury said it was targeting four men who have served on the supervisory board of the Alfa Group — Petr Olegivich Aven, Mikhail Maratovich Fridman, German Borisovich Khan and Alexey Viktorovich Kuzmichev — one of Russia’s largest financial and investment conglomerates under sanctions against the country’s financial services sector.It also imposed sanctions on the Russian Association…

LONDON: The UAE is the world’s most connected country, the Emirates Media Agency reported on Thursday. The claim is based on a report by the country’s Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority, which said that 99 percent of the population were connected to the internet. TDRA Director General Majed Sultan Al Mesmar said the report “reflects the digital landscape in the UAE overall and in particular the high level of adopting digital solutions whether in everyday life or government/public services.” The country was “forging ahead according to the ‘We the UAE 2031’ vision and the directives of our wise leadership…

The new permit also allows Americans to purchase licenses and certification for day-to-day operations until November The US Treasury Department has extended a permit that allows Americans to pay taxes, fees, and import duties in Russia, according to an updated general license distributed by the department on Thursday. Washington previously imposed a reporting requirement on US nationals in possession or control of property in which Russian financial institutions had an interest. The new order states that “US persons, or entities owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by a US person, are authorized to pay taxes, fees, or import duties, and purchase…

The country’s GDP has turned positive in the second quarter after a year of declines Russia has seen its Gross Domestic Product values turn to growth in the second quarter of the year, the country’s statistics service Rosstat reported on Friday, despite lingering pressure from Western sanctions. According to the agency’s calculations, the economy grew 4.9% in annual terms. It last demonstrated a higher growth rate back in the fourth quarter of 2021, when it surged to 5.8%. The country’s GDP turned to growth for the first time since the first quarter of 2022, when the indicator grew by 3%.…