Author: Steven Sahiounie

The Russian leader urged unflagging attention to such important tasks as support for prosecution in courts, protection of the environment, and monitoring of the observance of the rights of convicts Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that prosecutors respond harshly to any attempts to destabilize the socio-political situation in Russia. “Prosecutors should be more active in countering extremism <…>. As I already noted at a recent meeting of the FSB board, the number of such crimes increased last year. I am asking you to respond harshly to attempts to destabilize the socio-political situation in the country,” Putin said at meeting…

It is reported that the Russian Navy is represented in the drills by a naval group that consists of the frigate Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov and the medium sea tanker Kama Russia, China and Iran kicked off the Maritime Security Belt 2023 trilateral naval exercise in the Arabian Sea, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Wednesday. “Today the trilateral naval exercise Maritime Security Belt 2023 involving the navies of Russia, the People’s Liberation Army of China and the Islamic Republic of Iran has begun in the area of Chabahar Port in the Islamic Republic of Iran,”…

Accompanied by a high-ranking economic and banking delegation, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani will travel to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, March 16. The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council will travel to Abu Dhabi at the official invitation of his Emirati counterpart on Thursday. Shamkhani’s landmark trip will be made in response to a visit paid by the UAE’s national security adviser, Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to Tehran in December 2021. During the upcoming visit, Shamkhani is scheduled to hold talks with his Emirati counterpart and other top officials about bilateral, regional…

Following violent clashes that took place near the former Pakistani PM’s residence, police have made the decision to retreat. Media reports on Wednesday revealed that the Pakistani police have left former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s residence after making an attempt to arrest the leader of the nation’s opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and encountering resistance from Khan’s supporters. After the reinstatement of a warrant for Khan’s arrest on charges of selling gifts acquired from foreign heads of stat, a detachment of law enforcement officers left Islamabad on Monday and traveled to Lahore. The clashes went on for several hours, after which…

Saudi Arabia’s Finance Minister says his country might kickstart investments in Iran very soon following the recent rapprochement between the two countries. Saudi investments in Iran might take place very swiftly after the rapprochement agreement between the two countries, Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said Wednesday. There are many investment opportunities for Saudi Arabia in Iran and there are no obstacles to the dealings as long as all clauses of any agreement are respected, Al-Jadaan underlined during his address at the onset of the Financial Sector Conference. Al-Jadaan said Riyadh’s goal was regional security and self-sufficiency, as well as the…

A new bill repealing the disengagement law passed in 2005 has passed in Knesset’s first reading. Several EU member states, as well as the UK, denounced the Knesset’s approval of a bill that will allow Israeli settlers to return to areas across the West Bank that were previously evacuated as part of the 2005 Israeli-known Disengagement Law, which represented the liberation of Gaza and the partial liberation of the West Bank. The Palestinian foreign ministry denounced the Knesset’s decision and called on the international community to denounce the bill as well, and to pressure the Israeli government to back down from the decision. “Proceeding…

Bashar Assad arrived in Moscow on an official visit on Tuesday, accompanied by a large delegation of ministers Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad will touch on Damascus-Ankara relations at talks in Moscow, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday. “Undoubtedly, the topic of Syria-Turkey relations will be touched upon today in one way or another,” the spokesman said, responding to a question on how the Russia-Syria talks would affect the probability of Assad’s meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. According to Peskov, the heads of state will discuss bilateral relations and the settlement…

In response, the Taiwanese military issued radio warnings, scrambled air patrols and deployed air defense systems Taiwan spotted 28 Chinese aircraft and four ships around the island, the island’s Defense Ministry reported on Wednesday. Today, as of 6:00 a.m., 28 aircraft and four ships of the PLA (People’s Liberation Army of China) were spotted around Taiwan, the ministry said on Twitter. As Taiwan’s top brass claimed, 16 Chinese aircraft crossed the so-called median line of the Taiwan Strait or intruded into the island’s self-declared air defense identification zone. The Taiwanese Defense Ministry mentioned, in particular, Su-30, J-11 and J-16 fighters,…

John Kirby said that the US did not manage to recover the debris of the drone, pointing out that it may be unable to do so The United States, in light of the incident with the American MQ-9 drone in the Black Sea, made Russian ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov aware of its position that Moscow should act more cautiously, US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told CNN in an interview on Wednesday. “The message that we delivered to the Russian ambassador is that they need to be more careful in flying in international airspace near US assets…

The contagion effect from the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank is local and contained, said Credit Suisse Chairman Axel Lehmann on Wednesday. Embattled lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate were not subjected to strict enforcements that govern bigger banks in the U.S. and other parts of the world, Lehmann told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble at a panel session in Riyadh. “I look to what has happened in Silicon Valley Bank, and subsequently other midsize banks — they are not really subject to stringent regulation, as you have in other parts of the world,” he said, citing the Basel III requirement that underpins…