Author: Steven Sahiounie

More than 500 items of company memorabilia will be auctioned off following the platform’s rebranding Elon Musk is clearing house following the rebranding of Twitter last month, putting hundreds of items featuring the platform’s old logo up for sale. Heritage Global Partners auction house is selling 678 lots of memorabilia, art, and office assets from the company’s San Francisco headquarters, including a giant sign featuring the iconic blue bird logo that adorned the side of the building. Espresso machines, furniture, musical instruments, fridges, lockers and beer dispensers are also being sold off after the platform changed its name to X last month.…

Authorities reportedly want to claim taxes on rentals which the platform failed to pay Italian authorities have accused US-based online accommodation booking firm Airbnb of not paying roughly €500 million ($547 million) in taxes, national news outlet Il Sole 24 Ore reported on Friday. A probe has been launched by Italy’s Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate), a government body that enforces financial laws and collects taxes, according to the outlet. Italian legislation governing short-term rental platforms states that professional landlords that lease accommodation must pay a 21% flat-rate tax on income they receive from rentals. In cases with non-professional hosts,…

Berlin should start importing energy from Moscow again despite the political situation, German politician Anton Baron says The EU’s largest economy, Germany, should not put sanctions policy against Russia ahead of the country’s energy security, German MP and right-wing AfD party leader Anton Baron has warned. In an interview in Stuttgarter Zeitung on Friday, Baron said that by pursuing punitive measures against Russia and rejecting its supplies of energy, Germany is putting itself in peril by sliding from one energy dependency to another. “We switch off nuclear power plants and coal-fired power plants, relying more and more on renewable energies,…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will pay a visit to Budapest on August 20 to hold a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and discuss security, defense industry, and economic issues, Orban’s spokesman Bertalan Havasi said on Friday. “Prime Minister Viktor Orban invited Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Budapest on a working visit, he accepted the invitation. On August 20, a Hungarian-Turkish summit will be held at the Carmelite Monastery, where security, defense industry and economy issues will be discussed,” Havasi was quoted as saying by Hungarian news agency MTI. Turkiye and Hungary are preparing for a regular…

A Palestinian was killed and four others were injured by Israeli army gunfire last night in an Israeli military raid of Tulkarm refugee camp in the north of the occupied West Bank, according to medical sources. WAFA correspondent quoted the sources as saying that Mahmoud Jihad Jarad, 23, was killed after being fatally shot by a live Israeli shot in the chest. Four others sustained injuries in the abdomen, pelvis, foot and shoulder respectively. Jarad was first admitted to nearby Thabet Thabet Public Hospital in critical condition before he was announced dead of his wounds, medical sources said. The condition…

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says it is important to keep open communication with the EU, as they are considered to be Belarus’s neighbors. Belarus should maintain good relations with neighboring EU countries and must not “discard contacts with the high-tech West” Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday. “Now we make money primarily in the East: in Russia, China. But we must not discard contacts with the high-tech West. They are nearby, the European Union is our neighbor, and we should maintain contacts with them. We are ready for this, but there should be due consideration for our interests,” Lukashenko underscored during…

The Russian Security Council deputy chairman points out that Kiev’s “counteroffensive is now operating nonstop, sending thousands of unfortunate people to the slaughterhouse” The only thing Ukraine really needs is capitulation, which could very likely pave the way to peace, but neither Washington nor Kiev want such an outcome, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said. “The people suffering in the trenches of a divided country really need only to surrender, which could potentially pave the way to peace. But neither Washington nor Kiev want peace,” he wrote on his Telegram channel. Medvedev pointed out that, “the meat processing…

“The statements about current and planned deliveries of military equipment, including tanks and cluster munitions, are being made again,” Anatoly Antonov underlined The US administration’s request for additional funding of its military assistance to Kiev demonstrates the US determination to help Ukraine “till the last Ukrainian,” the Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said on Friday. “The Administration seizes every opportunity to demonstrate its desire to help its clients in Kiev ’till the last Ukrainian.’ Ignores the growing disapproval of such actions by its own citizens. The statements about current and planned deliveries of military equipment, including tanks and…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator The Obama administration began the US military occupation of Syria in November 2015. Obama sold the public on the idea of fighting ISIS, but in reality military personnel of Syria, Russia, Iraq and Iran were already on the group and ultimately defeated ISIS in Syria. The real reason behind the US invasion and occupation of Syria, now lasting eight years, and with no end in sight, was to prevent the Syrian government, and its citizens, from benefiting from the oil wells in the north east. Those oil wells had supplied the domestic consumption of…

The Ukraine conflict is now “a war of attrition,” with no easy solution on the horizon, the Serbian president has said All Western efforts to help Ukraine prevail over Russia on the battlefield are in vain, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday, calling on Moscow and Kiev to engage in peace talks. Speaking to Happy TV, Vucic stated that while Western countries are providing Ukraine with massive military assistance, “now it is clear that there is nothing to it,” and an “easy end” to the conflict is nowhere in sight. “A war of attrition is being waged, and with all the strength of…