Author: Steven Sahiounie

UK PM Boris Johnson earlier announced that the government had introduced a bill that would amend the Northern Ireland Protocol – a provision in the Brexit agreement with the EU, which allowed the UK to prevent a hard border from being placed between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, but was devised only as a temporarily solution. The European Commission has launched legal proceedings against the UK in response to its plans to unilaterally change the Northern Ireland Protocol, a special amendment to the Brexit agreement that governs border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Vice-President of the European…

Russian special presidential envoy for Syria condemns the Israeli attacks waged on Syrian territories as “unacceptable”. The Syrian settlement process remains a top priority for Russia despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, Russian special presidential envoy for Syria Alexander Lavretyev said at the beginning of the Astana format talks on Wednesday. “Many now, you have probably heard, say that in connection with the special military operation, Russia’s attention to Syria has weakened,” Lavrentyev said. “A number of European countries want to see the development of the situation in Syria according to their patterns. I want to say that the Syrian…

North Korea may have spent as much as $642 million on its nuclear program last year, according to anti-nuclear activists, as the impoverished country appears ready to test a new weapon despite battling a COVID-19 outbreak and economic crisis. There is no confirmed data on North Korea’s nuclear spending, or the size of its arsenal. Since 2006 it has conducted at least six nuclear tests, and appears to be preparing to resume testing for the first time since 2017. In a report on global nuclear weapons spending released on Tuesday, the Geneva-based International Campaign to Abolish nuclear weapons said its…

A checkpoint in Russia’s Kursk Region has been targeted, according to the regional governor A border checkpoint in Russia’s Kursk Region was attacked by Ukraine on Wednesday morning, according to local governor Roman Starovoyt. The Krupets crossing was targeted at around 7.30am local time, he wrote on Telegram. “There were no casualties or destruction” as a result of the incident, the governor said. The attack was suppressed by return fire from Russian border guards, he added. On Tuesday, six people were reportedly wounded and some 50 houses damaged when Ukraine shelled the village of Zaymishche in neighboring Bryansk Region. Kiev’s forces…

Two US states have filed legal motions against President Joe Biden for allegedly colluding with giant social media corporations to suppress free speech, the Missouri Attorney General’s Office said in a press release. “Today, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry filed a motion for preliminary injunction in their lawsuit against President Biden and other top-ranking government officials for allegedly colluding with social media giants such as Meta, Twitter, and YouTube to censor and suppress free speech,” the release said on Tuesday, Sputnik reported. The motion argues that the US government-led online censorship affects enormous segments…

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, his NATO counterparts, and other partners will convene in Brussels Wednesday and Thursday to discuss additional security assistance to send to Ukraine and the military alliance’s force posture in Eastern Europe in light of the ongoing conflict. The meeting is taking place weeks after the US Congress approved $40 billion in assistance for Ukraine and as Russia reinforces its efforts to secure the Donbas region. The Ukrainian Defence Contact Group meeting will be held on Wednesday and will include representatives of nearly 50 countries that are all currently providing some type of assistance to Ukraine.…

Moscow says it will allow civilians to leave the besieged chemical plant, but will block Ukrainian soldiers seeking to escape The Russian military opened a humanitarian corridor for trapped civilians to leave the besieged Azot chemical plant in the city of Severodonetsk on Wednesday morning. On Tuesday, Moscow said Kiev had asked it to provide safe passage for civilians wishing to leave the plant. It requested that non-combatants would be allowed to flee to the Ukrainian-controlled city of Lisichansk on the other side of the Seversky Donets River, the Russian military said. However, this plan was rejected on the basis…

Ukrainian forces are suffering painful losses in fighting Russian troops in both the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk and the Kharkiv region, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday. In a late night address, he also said Ukraine needed modern anti-missile weapons now, adding there could be no justification for partner countries to delay delivery. Some Russian rockets are evading defences and causing casualties, he said. Ukraine said its forces were still trying to evacuate civilians from Sievierodonetsk after Russia destroyed the last bridge to the city, the latest stage in a weeks-long battle in the Donbas region that Moscow seeks to…

Fuel prices in the UK reach new highs and the US average price per gallon jumps to $5.  The national average price for regular unleaded gas in the United States rose to $5.016 per gallon on Tuesday, according to data from the American Automobile Association (AAA), which tracks prices at more than 60,000 gas stations across the country. Historically, the highest prices have been recorded in California, up to $6.44 per gallon, and the lowest in Georgia, at $4.49 per gallon. The AAA stated that the rising prices are having no effect on demand during the traditionally busy summer driving season. “Based…

Pentagon policy chief Colin Kahl revealed the payload for HIMARS launchers The US is sending Ukraine heavy guided missiles with a range of 70km for use with the HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl revealed on Tuesday. The White House previously said that HIMARS launchers would be provided with “battlefield munitions,” widely understood to be unguided rockets with a shorter range. The high-mobility artillery rocket system will come with GMLRS guided rockets, Kahl said on Tuesday, speaking at a conference hosted by the Center for New American Security (CNAS), a Democrat-linked think tank for which he used…