Author: Steven Sahiounie

Sanctions were introduced for the first time on August 1, 2014 and have been renewed every six months since then based on claims that there has been no progress on the Minsk Agreement agreements The EU Council has issued a six-month extension on all economic sanctions against Russia until the end of January 2024, the Council said in its statement. “Today, the Council decided to prolong by six months, until January 31, 2024, the restrictive measures targeting specific sectors of the economy of the Russian Federation,” the EU Council said. The sanctions “currently consist of a broad spectrum of sectoral…

Anil Suklal pointed out that the participation of BRICS leaders in the work of the group’s annual summits in an online format is not unusual, as over the years numerous BRICS meetings and gatherings have been held online Russian President Vladimir Putin will participate online in all BRICS leaders’ sessions at the group’s upcoming summit in Johannesburg on August 22-24, Anil Suklal, Ambassador-at-Large for Asia and BRICS at the South African Foreign Ministry and South Africa’s BRICS Sherpa, said on Thursday. “He [Russian President Vladimir Putin] will attend the summit virtually. He will be involved in all of the sessions…

Tom Dodd stayed at the Russian Foreign Ministry for more than an hour British interim charge d’affaires in Moscow Tom Dodd, who was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday, left the Russian diplomatic building without comment, a TASS correspondent reported. The diplomat stayed at the Russian Foreign Ministry for more than an hour. New package of UK sanctions The UK Foreign Office on Monday announced sanctions on 13 Russian nationals and the Artek international children’s center in Crimea. The restrictions that include an entry ban and asset freeze cover Education Minister Sergey Kravtsov, Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova, Kamchatka…

Israeli forces Thursday detained three Palestinians as they were celebrating that they successfully passed the general exam known as Tawjihi in the occupied city of Jerusalem. Witnesses told WAFA that the soldiers detained three students, whose identities haven’t been revealed, as they were celebrating their success in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israeli police provocatively intensified their presence in the Old City to disrupt students’ and their families’ celebration over Tawjihi results. Source: WAFA

France’s Interior Minister reports that one-third of those imprisoned during the week of violence were young rioters. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin reported that approximately 3,800 individuals were detained during the country’s week-long turmoil after seventeen-year-old Nahel Merzouk was murdered in cold blood by a French police officer. During a hearing at the parliament’s legal commission, Darmanin stated that “All in all, nearly 3,800 people were arrested and thus removed from the streets, preventing them from doing harm and attacking public buildings and people.” According to the minister, police used street camera video following the incident to effectively identify and…

Syria’s permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador Bassam Sabbagh hailed Russia’s decision as “balanced and wise” in voting against a western draft resolution regarding the delivery mechanism of the international humanitarian aid via the borders into Syrian as it did not meet the legitimate demands of Syria on achieving best response to the real needs of the Syrian people. Sabbagh Speech came in a statement to the UN General Assembly on “item 60” entitled “Using the Veto” on Wednesday. Sabbagh added that the Syrian government had taken the decision to grant the United Nations permission to use Bab al-Hawa crossing to deliver…

Itis stressed that the technical condition of the vehicles and weapons pulled from US and allied warehouses concerns Kiev The West’s focus has shifted to repairing the weapons provided to Ukraine, a recognition that the conflict “will grind on for months and years to come,” Politico writes, citing a Pentagon official. According to the media outlet, “even before Ukraine launched its counteroffensive this summer, allies were becoming increasingly worried that efforts to keep donated equipment up and running were falling behind battlefield needs.” “Now, with the fight to dislodge tens of thousands of well-entrenched Russian troops chewing through armored vehicles and artillery…

The US has only a week’s worth of anti-ship missiles, one think tank has estimated Ammunition shortages laid bare by the Ukraine conflict have prompted some US think-tanks to check on stockpiles in the West and find them wanting, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. The military industry of NATO allies is not able to help, either. A Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) wargame of a conflict with China over Taiwan showed that the US had only about 450 long-range anti-ship missiles, enough for about a week. Another think tank, the Center for New American Security (CNAS), said the existing…

The incident follows a series of Ukrainian attacks targeting the Russian peninsula A suspected drone strike damaged at least four buildings and killed a young girl in northwest Crimea on Thursday morning, according to the leader of the peninsula, Sergey Aksyonov. As a result of the “enemy drone” strike, “four administrative buildings” were damaged and at least one person killed, Aksyonov claimed on Telegram shortly after 6am local time, without naming the exact location of the strike. “Unfortunately… a teenage girl died,” Aksyonov wrote. The official expressed his “sincere and deep condolences” and promised to provide the victim’s family with “all the necessary support.” The incident follows a…

Dozens of fanatic Israeli settlers Thursday morning broke into the compounds of al-Aqsa Mosque under heavy protection from the Israeli police, Islamic Waqf confirmed. The Waqf said that settlers, divded into groups, raided the holy Islamic Mosque from al-Maghariba gate and took provocative tours in its compounds. It added that the extremist settlers performed Talmudic rituals in the eastern part of the Mosque. This comes at a time as Israeli forces intensify measures against Palestinians coming from Jerusalem to enter the Mosque, inspecting their IDs and briefly detaining them. Source: WAFA