Author: Steven Sahiounie

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is actively working to recruit Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) militants detained in prisons and camps controlled by the Kurds in northeastern Syria, in order to send them to Ukraine, the Russian Sputnik News Agency said. Citing a source, it reported that the Americans are transporting Daesh terrorists to their facilities under the pretext of conducting additional investigations with the possibility of their transfer to Europe. “The Kurds have so far handed over several high-ranking leaders and about 90 Daesh fighters to the American side, most of whom are citizens of European Union countries and Iraq,…

The exchange of 144 for 144 prisoners of war took place yesterday, on June 29 The exchange of 144 for 144 prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine took place on June 29 on the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov told reporters on Thursday. “Yesterday, on June 29, the exchange of 144 for 144 prisoners of war took place. It was organized and carried out on the direct order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces,” Konashenkov said. The official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry…

The Founding Act of 1997 legally remains in force, but has effectively been violated by the US-led bloc, Lavrov claimed Neither Russia nor NATO has ever formally denounced the 1997 Founding Act, but in practice it does not work because the alliance is in violation of it, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov assessed on Thursday. There were some who believed that the key treaty would be scrapped by NATO during the summit of its leaders in Madrid. “In a legal sense, the Founding Act continues to exist, we have not initiated the procedure for terminating this agreement,” the minister said during…

Ahead of the expected dissolution of the Israeli Knesset, Netanyahu says he does not intend to compete in the coming elections, ending his one-year role as “Israel’s” Prime Minister. Israeli occupation Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will not stand at the upcoming general election, his spokesperson announced Wednesday evening, just hours ahead of the expected dissolution of the parliament. Bennett announced to lawmakers from his Yamina party “his intention not to stand at the next elections,” his spokesperson told the media, as Israeli Knesset members prepared to vote to dissolve “Israel’s” current legislature, paving the way for national elections later this year.…

Liz Truss said she can’t remember tackling Britain’s Gulf allies on human rights issues, but insists she did UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told a hearing on Tuesday that she has raised human rights concerns with Britain’s allies in the Gulf, but when pressed couldn’t name a single time she did. Despite insisting that the UK should oppose “authoritarian regimes” around the world, Truss said that Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing totalitarian states are “partners.” In a speech to Commonwealth leaders last week, Truss argued that Britain and its former imperial territories should act as a “bulwark” against Russia and China, and a “robust counterweight to…

On June 29, nine Turkish-backed militants were killed and two others were wounded when an anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) hit a bus that was carrying them near the town of Bosoufane which is located in the southern part of Turkish-occupied Afrin in the northern countryside of Syria’s Aleppo. The slain militants were all members of the al-Sham Legion, a faction of the National Front for Liberation (NFL). The front is Turkey’s main proxy in the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib and a de-facto part of the Syrian National Army that rules over Turkish-occupied areas in northern and northeastern Syria.…

The Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson accuses Washington, Brussels, and London of doing everything to really escalate the Ukrainian grain export conflict. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova pointed out that Russia is not preventing the export of grain from Ukraine, stressing that Moscow is ready to export tens of millions of tonnes of its own grain if the West stops blocking food supplies. Zakharova said if the West is worried about the onset of world famine it should “stop blocking food supplies.” She considered that “it is Washington, Brussels, and London that are doing everything to really artificially escalate the situation”…

A new UN report says more than 19 million Yemenis are now facing hunger, setting a new record since the beginning of the devastating Saudi-led war on Yemen in 2015. The number of hungry people in Yemen is the highest in seven years, with aid cuts possible in days, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday. “More than 19 million people are going hungry, including more than 160,000 on the verge of famine,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. “Funding cuts are hampering our ability to help people in need.” The office said that the World Food…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator “Israel” is heading toward its fifth election in less than four years, as the Bennett-Lapid consensus ends in the Knesset. Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett’s Yamina Party was weakened by significant defections recently between Bennett’s right-wing allies and Arab members of the coalition, which rendered the to a government a minority position in the Knesset. Defense Minister Benny Gantz discussed a vote on a bill to dissolve the Knesset on June 22, 2022. However, the bill to disperse the 24th Knesset has been delayed due to a last-ditch effort by the opposition to form an…

The Secretary General said the West tried to talk with Russia before the special military operation but Russia went ahead with its plans NATO has been preparing to face off Russia since 2014, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday. “We actually prepared for this possibility for a long time,” he said at a news conference capping a second day of a NATO summit in Madrid. “It’s not as if NATO suddenly woke up on the 24th of February and realized that Russia was dangerous.” “The reality is that we also have been preparing for this since 2014 because…