Author: Steven Sahiounie

Blinken’s trip marks the first for a US secretary of state to visit China in five years. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to make a trip to China next week with the intention of improving relations after Beijing shut down a request for talks earlier by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin over Washington’s sanctions on the Chinese defense minister and continued provocations. Blinken is set to land in China on June 18, Reuters reported on Saturday citing a US official who gave no further details about the travel plans. His visit also comes just under two weeks after a Riyadh…

The acting head of the region noted that the president is regularly interested in what is happening after the destruction of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station Russian President Vladimir Putin is keeping track of the situation in the Kherson Region following the recent collapse of a dam there, the region’s Interim Governor Vladimir Saldo said on Rossiya-24 television on Saturday. “The president concerns himself with the situation, asking what is happening, how it’s happening. He now often dials me up and asks questions, monitoring the situation all the time,” he said. According to Saldo, the Russian president instructed him to collect and…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed with UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, the situation in the country. “During the meeting, the two sides discussed the new situation in and around Syria, and providing comprehensive and large-scale assistance to all Syrians, especially in order to overcome repercussions of the earthquake that hit Syria on February 6 and the efforts exerted to solve the crisis there,” Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The statement asserted the importance of strict respect for the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic, and compliance with the guiding principles…

Beijing says Washington has a habit of making false allegations and “chasing shadows” China has said it has no plans to build an “electronic eavesdropping facility” in Cuba, throwing cold water on a recent Wall Street Journal report citing US officials. The claims have also been dismissed by Havana and even the White House itself. Asked about the WSJ report – which alleged that Beijing would use the spy base to monitor US military sites in Florida – Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said he is “not aware” of any such arrangement. “It is well known that the US is an expert on…

The US will “continue to monitor” the announced deployment of bombs to Belarus Washington does not see any signs that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon, but will keep an eye on the preparations in Belarus to host its ally’s atomic arsenal, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Friday. Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin told his counterpart Alexander Lukashenko that the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus might start as early as next month. Kirby called the announcement “another example of just reckless and irresponsible rhetoric” coming from Moscow, which the US will “have to…

Trump is reportedly facing 37 felony charges related to mishandling of classified documents, including 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information.  Court documents revealed on Friday that the classified papers former US President Donald Trump had kept in his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida were found by investigators in the bedroom, the bathroom and shower, a storage room, a ballroom, and his office. Trump is reportedly facing 37 felony charges related to the mishandling of classified documents, including 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information. If convicted, the former President may also face prison time, with some of the…

Prominent Western figures and politicians have warned for decades against the coalition’s continued expansion toward Russia’s border and its consequences on Europe. NATO will provide Ukraine with a road map to join the military coalition during the upcoming Vilnius summit held by the alliance, but the Eastern European country will only be eligible one to two years after the end of the war, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said on Saturday. The Ministry was citing remarks made by Deputy Defense Ministry Volodymyr Gavrilov. “In his comments, Volodymyr Gavrilov noted that at the summit in July, NATO countries “will agree on a…

53 people were injured At least 27 people were killed and 53 injured when an unexploded ordnance detonated in the south of Somalia, the Somali National News Agency (SONNA) reported late on Friday. The incident occurred near the city of Qoryoley. Earlier, China’s Xinhua news agency said citing local authorities that at least 25 of those killed were children aged between 10 and 15. An investigation is under way. A resident of the city told the AFP news agency that the explosion occurred near a children’s playground. The majority of the victims were small children, who died instantly when one of them triggered an explosive device,…

The Russian head of State admitted to journalists that Russia does not have enough modern weapons in its arsenal at present. Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters on Friday that the Ukrainian “counteroffensive” in the special military operation zone has begun and that Kiev is resorting to its strategic reserves. “Firstly, it can be stated with absolute certainty that the counteroffensive has begun and this is proved by the use of strategic reserves,” Putin said. He further said that Ukrainian forces failed to meet their goals “thanks to courage” of Russian troops and that Ukrainian armed forces suffered losses “higher…

US President added that Washington is optimistic Western countries have done their utmost to prepare Ukraine for its counteroffensive, so Washington is optimistic, US President Joe Biden said on Thursday at a press conference with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. “Let me begin by answering the question. First of all, the Ukrainians should speak to the military operations. I won’t do that from here. We’ve done everything we could collectively, much individually in the United States, to make them ready, the support is going to continue,” the US president said when asked by a reporter whether military assistance to Kiev…