Author: Steven Sahiounie

Tens of thousands of Austrians angered by the government’s inertia in tackling runaway costs of living took to the streets of Vienna and eight major cities on Saturday. The Austrian trade union federation OeGB called the nationwide protest in a bid to put pressure on the conservative-Green coalition that it blamed for “watching idly as our life becomes unaffordable.” Some 20,000 Austrians turned up for a “Prices Down” rally in downtown Vienna, according to OeGB. City police declined to share their estimates. About 10,000 more protested in Linz, Bruck an der Mur, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt St. Polten, Eisenstadt, and Bregenz.…

On September 17, a new wave of Russian airstrikes targeted the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib, which is occupied by al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and several other terrorist groups. The airstrikes, which were reportedly carried out by two Su-24M and two Su-34 fighter bombers of the Russian Aerospace Forces, hit positions of HTS in the towns of Hafsarjah and Sheikh Yusuf in the western countryside of Idlib. A man, allegedly a civilian, was lightly wounded as a result of the airstrikes. Following the airstrikes, the Syrian Arab Army pounded positions of HTS and its allies across the eastern…

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of UAE has met several Israeli ministers in Tel Aviv. He arrived in Israel on Wednesday for a trip to mark the second anniversary of the signing of the Abraham Accords and was accompanied by a high-level delegation, state news agency Wam reported. Sheikh Abdullah met Israeli Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked to review cooperation in seve emphasizing emphasis on defense. Sheikh Abdullah said the visit would open new prospects for cooperation between the two sides. Shaked welcomed the visit of Sheikh Abdullah and the UAE delegation and said Tel…

The $15 billion tally covers almost every missile, vehicle, and round of ammunition sent to Kiev since February The US Department of Defense has released a list of nearly every weapon it’s donated to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s military operation in February. While the US has already given $15 billion worth of arms, Kiev insists it needs more. Released on Friday, the list accounts for most of the $15.8 billion in security assistance sent to Ukraine since President Joe Biden took office. The majority of that – $15.1 billion – has come since Russian troops entered Ukraine in February. Biden…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator On September 10, two Greek Coast Guard boats opened fire on a Turkish cargo ship with an international crew while it sailed in international waters. The “Anatolian” was attacked off the northwestern Turkish island of Bozcaada. Turkey reported no casualties in the attack but has demanded an immediate investigation. After two Turkish Coast Guard ships arrived on the scene, the Greek boats left. The Greek Coast Guard admitted to firing shots at the ship and believed it was acting suspiciously off the Greek island of Lesbos, which is well known as a people-smuggling route…

 The Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization met and talked with the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran on Thursday in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. In the meeting with the Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Iran’s President voiced readiness to cooperate in various fields with the member states and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. According to Iran Press, Ebrahim Raisi, at the beginning of the second day of his trip to Uzbekistan, on Thursday morning, met Zhang Ming, the Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, explaining the steps taken by the Islamic Republic of Iran to become a…

Sending in troops to help resolve the crisis between Armenia and Azerbaijan is off the table for now, the CSTO chief of staff says The Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will not be sending its forces to the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. The news comes from the bloc’s chief of the joint staff, General Anatoly Sidorov, who spoke to journalists on Thursday. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Sidorov said when asked if the CSTO is considering sending in its military to help stabilize the region, which has recently seen yet another escalation in tensions. “On September 13, our heads of state…

The Palestinian Resistance movement cements its supportive stance for Syria, which has been enduring years of aggression from “Israel. Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas has condemned the ongoing Israeli aggression against Syria in addition to attempts to normalize and integrate “Israel” into relations in the region. The organization also condemned the theft of commodities from the country in addition to sowing discord and war between the population and other countries. In a statement, Hamas said that “Syria has embraced our Palestinian people and its resistance factions for decades, which requires us to stand in solidarity with it in light of the brutal aggression…

The Chinese president emphasized that “Taiwan is part of China” Chinese President Xi Jinping highly appreciates Russia’s commitment to the one-China principle, China Central Television said in a report published following Xi Jinping’s meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand on Thursday. “Xi Jinping highly appreciates Russia’s commitment to the one-China principle,” the report reads. According to the media outlet, the Chinese president “emphasized that Taiwan is part of China.” Taiwan has been governed by its local administration since 1949 when the remaining Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek…

Syrian missiles and Russian warplanes hit positions of ultra-radical rebel groups in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib on Wednesday, the state news agency SANA reported. A number of rebels, including their foreign coaches, were either killed or wounded in the coordinated Syrian-Russian strikes that targeted rebels’ training camps in the countryside of Idlib, said SANA, adding that foreign trainers were teaching local rebels about carrying out drone attacks. The nationalities or the number of the targeted foreign trainers were not revealed by SANA. Meanwhile, the report said the rebels’ positions, vehicles and drones were destroyed during the attack, which was…