Author: Steven Sahiounie

US-based credit rating agency Fitch has warned of an imminent default in Ukraine, announcing in a statement on Wednesday that it had further downgraded Kiev’s credit rating. 

Moscow’s commodity supplies to its Asian neighbor have been growing at a record pace, according to customs data

Western aid will depend on the result of US presidential election and could shrink, according to Sergey Marchenko

Exports dropped by 76% in the first half of this year, Chinese customs data shows Electricity exports from Russia to China plummeted to record low levels in the first six months of this year, business daily Kommersant reported on Tuesday, citing Chinese customs data. Between January and June, Russia’s power exporting company Inter RAO supplied about 465 million kWh to China, which is 76% less than during the same period last year. The publication cited low water availability, a lack of generation capacity, and repairs at thermal power plants in the Far East as reasons for the decrease. If the…

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will visit Türkiye in August, Turkish officials confirmed on Wednesday. Abbas will pay a visit to Türkiye on Aug. 14-15, the country’s communications director, Fahrettin Altun, said on X. Abbas will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Aug. 14, and will address the Turkish parliament the next day, Altun added. Turkish parliament speaker Numan Kurtulmus called for an extraordinary meeting of the parliament on Aug. 15 for Abbas’s address. “I call the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye for an extraordinary meeting in order to show our strong support for the Palestinian people and their cause…

After the killing of the Hamas leader, Antony Blinken said a Gaza ceasefire is essential to prevent the conflict from spreading to the rest of the region. “We’ve been working from day one not only to try to get to a better place in Gaza but also to prevent the conflict from spreading, whether it’s the north with Lebanon and Hezbollah, whether it’s the Red Sea with the Houthis, whether it’s Iran, Syria, Iraq, you name it,” Blinken told a forum in Singapore. “A big key to trying to make sure that doesn’t happen, and that we can move to…

Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdelatty met Wednesday with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha and held a separate meeting with Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to discuss the joint efforts to end the war in Gaza. During the meetings, Abdelatty and the top Qatari statesmen agreed on the urgency of achieving an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and ensuring the entry of humanitarian aid to meet the needs of the Palestinian people. They reaffirmed the Egyptian and Qatari efforts to prevent further escalations in the region, urging the international…

Russian Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Dmitry Polyanskiy announced on Wednesday that Russia has called for an extraordinary UN Security Council meeting to address the assassination of Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh. “At the request of Iran, supported by China, Algeria, and Russia, our chairmanship has scheduled an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council in connection with the assassination of Hamas politburo chief I. Haniyeh in Tehran for 4:00 p.m. New York time (11:00 p.m. Moscow time) on July 31,” Polyanskiy said. Iran’s UN envoy Saeed Iravani has likewise requested an urgent meeting to discuss the events and…

Iran has announced three days of national mourning following assassination of Hamas’s leader Ismail Haniyeh in the country’s capital Tehran. The Iranian administration made the announcement in a statement on Wednesday, hours after the assassination that claimed the life of the head of the Palestinian resistance movement’s political bureau and one of his bodyguards. Haniyeh came under the fatal attack while he was in Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s ninth President Masoud Pezeshkian. The statement strongly condemned the atrocity, reminding that it had been committed in violation of all humanitarian principles and international laws against the senior…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated Wednesday that assassinating Hamas political bureau director Ismail Haniyeh will not help “Israel” accomplish its aims, condemning the aggression. “As before, the Zionist barbarians will again fail to achieve their goals through killing,” Erdogan said X. Erdogan also denounced the “treacherous assassination” and described it as a “despicable act aimed at undermining the Palestinian cause… demoralizing and intimidating Palestinians.” The Hamas Resistance movement mourned on Wednesday the martyrdom of the head of its political bureau and leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in a “treacherous Zionist strike” and assassination targeting his place of residence in Tehran, Iran. Haniyeh was in the country…