Author: Steven Sahiounie

The former VP of EU’s parliament has been accused of accepting cash to lobby the bloc on behalf of Qatar. Greek MEP Eva Kaili has been released on Wednesday following a ruling by a Belgian judge to transfer her from custody into house arrest until she is put on trial, AFP reported. “She is under house arrest in Belgium and placed under electronic surveillance. The investigating judge has just made the decision,” Antoon Schotsaert, a magistrate at the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office, told AFP. Kaili was charged last December for “corruption allegations involving Qatar” at the World Cup and was placed in custody since.…

Syria and Saudi Arabia welcomed the resumption of consular services and air flights between the two countries, affirming the necessity of boosting security and combating terrorism with all its forms and organizations. “In the framework of Saudi Arabia’s commitment to the Arab causes, and to boost the interests of the Arab countries and people, and in response to an invitation by his highness, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, Syrian Foreign Minister, Fayssal Mikdad visited the Kingdom today,” A joint press statement said at the conclusion of the visit of Mr. Mikdad to Saudi…

Ivica Dacic stressed that “the Republic of Serbia adheres to its policy of military neutrality and complies with the conclusions of the National Security Council of February last year” Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic dismissed as groundless allegations that Serbia is making deliveries of weapons to Ukraine, the Balkan country’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday. “Serbia’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic refutes the allegation about deliveries of weapons and military equipment to Ukraine published by the British Reuters news agency and reproduced by some Serbian media outlets. Minister Dacic has stated that Serbia respects domestic and…

The Prisoners’ Information Office says the prisoner will undergo surgery to extract a part of his lung after his health condition deteriorated. The Prisoners’ Information Office confirmed that cancer-stricken Palestinian prisoner Walid Daqqa will undergo surgery on Wednesday in the “Barzilai” hospital to extract a part of his lung as a result of severe infection and contamination. In a statement, the Office said Daqqa will undergo surgery after his health condition deteriorated. A few days ago, the prisoner’s wife, Sanaa Salameh, said, after visiting him for only a quarter of an hour, that her husband was still in critical condition.…

Doubting their authenticity, Russia warns that the leak could be part of the “hybrid war” the US is engaged in against Russia. Following the leak of US “top secret” documents, CBS News reported, on Wednesday, that the Pentagon significantly reduced the number of government-employed officials that receive classified information. According to a US official that preferred to remain anonymous but was cited by the news outlet, the leaked papers were first printed and then photographed before being circulated online. This suggested that it had to be someone who had access to such classified information, which is limited to about 1,000 people. Moreover, a limited…

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemned the systematic attack by Israeli institutions against the independent Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry referred to the tools of the occupation, including some institutions and organizations that disguise themselves as non-governmental organizations, claiming to be a forum for international law, while in fact whitewashing the crimes of the occupation, and working to normalize and facilitate the impunity of this colonial and apartheid system. The ministry affirmed its support and the support of the Palestinian people and…

The Jerusalem churches today rejected restrictions to be imposed by the Israeli police during the Holy Light ceremony at the Holy Sepulcher Church in Jerusalem’s Old City on Saturday. The ceremony is part of the orthodox churches Easter celebrations this week according to the Julian calendar. The Status Quo Committee of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, the Custody of the Holy Land, and the Armenian Patriarchate rejected in a statement what they described as the “unreasonable restrictions” by Israeli police for the Holy Light ceremony. “The celebration of the Holy Light Ceremony is a great moment that ties the faithful to…

Yury Borisov confirmed that the new orbit and radiation environment will allow for deepening and mastering the technologies that will be needed for deep space exploration, in particular for the Moon program Russia’s space corporation Roscosmos already knows the shape and parameters of a future orbital station and the stages of its creation, Roscosmos CEO Yury Borisov said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. “The preliminary design will be ready in the summer. Today, we already know the station’s main parameters and shape and the stages of its creation,” he said. Putin noted that one of…

“We know that representatives of the United Nations are making certain efforts, but they cannot do much, and the second half of the deal is still non-functional and these terms are not being met,” Dmitry Peskov said The Russian part of the grain deal is still not working, which is why the current prospects for its extension are “not so good,” Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday. “The deal was extended for 60 days but not completely, exclusively due to the fact that precisely half of this so-called deal has not worked and is not working now. We…

Earlier, Wagner PMC founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said that Russian forces controlled more than 80% of Artyomovsk All administrative buildings in Artyomovsk (known as Bakhmut in Ukraine) are controlled by Russian forces, acting head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin said on Tuesday. “All administrative buildings are already controlled by our forces,” he said in an interview with Russia’s TV Channel One. Pushilin stressed that he had been to Artyomovsk to see it with his own eyes, adding that he hardly saw any building not seriously damaged there, which could be “slightly reconstructed” and used in the future. Earlier, Wagner…