Author: Steven Sahiounie

China is ready to assist rival Palestinian factions in their reconciliation efforts by providing a platform for dialogue, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman stated on Tuesday. “China always supports Palestinian factions in achieving reconciliation and solidarity through dialogue and consultation and stands ready to provide platforms and opportunities for all Palestinian factions to carry out dialogue for reconciliation,” Lin Jian told a news briefing. He was responding to a question about China’s reported plans to host talks between Gaza-based Hamas and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party from July 20-21. According to The New York Times, Palestinian officials said Beijing…

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and French President Emmanuel Macron have called for intensified joint international actions to prevent the Gaza war expansion and to prevent the region from descending into a new cycle of unaccounted conflict. In a phone call on Tuesday, both leaders discussed several regional and international issues of mutual concern, notably the situation in the Gaza Strip. “The two presidents agreed on the importance of intensifying joint international action, to prevent the conflict from expanding and preventing the region from slipping into a new cycle of unaccounted conflict,” read a statement by the Egyptian presidency. President El-Sisi outlined…

French President Emmanuel Macron has accepted Prime Minister Gabriel Attal’s resignation, the Elysee Palace said. He also tasked the current government to continue addressing current issues until a new cabinet is formed. Attal resigned after the presidential party Renaissance elected him as head of its faction in parliament. Meanwhile, the left-wing New Popular Front alliance, which won the biggest number of seats in the national legislature, has not yet reach a consensus on a candidacy for the country’s prime minister. According to French Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel, the candidate will be nominated within days. “If we fail to reach…

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi today stressed the need for concerted international efforts to reach an immediate ceasefire in the war-torn Gaza Strip, according to the Egyptian Presidency. President El-Sisi stressed such a need during a phone call from President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel. The leaders “tackled a multitude of regional and international issues of mutual concern,” including the developments in the Gaza Strip. President El-Sisi “emphasized the importance of peaceful solutions to regional and international crises, stressing the crucial need for concerted international efforts to reach an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and provide urgent and…

Iran’s interim foreign minister has set off for New York to take part in two United Nations Security Council meetings focusing on the developments in Palestine and multilateralism. Heading a delegation, Ali Bagheri Kani left Tehran for New York on Monday. The meetings will be chaired by Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov under the rotating presidency of Vassily A. Nebenzia, who holds the 15-member world body’s rotating presidency for July. Addressing a press conference on July 1, Nebenzia said the meeting on multilateral cooperation in establishing a more just, democratic and sustainable world order will be held on July 16. “There…

The government of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday denounced Israeli deadly strikes on southern Gaza, urging the world not to “remain silent in the face of this endless massacre.” “The most recent bombing in the Gaza Strip, which claimed the lives of hundreds of innocent people, is unacceptable,” read a statement from the presidency. At least 92 people were killed and 300 wounded on Saturday in an Israeli strike on Al-Mawasi, an Israeli-designated “safe zone” on the Mediterranean coast. Gaza’s civil defence agency said another 20 were killed in an Israeli strike on a makeshift mosque at…

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday appointed Omani diplomat Mohammed Al-Hassan to be his new special representative for Iraq and head of the UN mission there. Al-Hassan succeeds Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, a former Dutch defense minister who was appointed the UN’s special coordinator for Lebanon in May. “Mr. Al-Hassan brings to the position a broad range of diplomatic experience, with a career spanning over 30 years working on preventive diplomacy, peacebuilding and development,” a UN spokesperson said. The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq was established following the US-led invasion of the country in 2003. It was handed a robust mandate to…

Ex-US President Donald Trump said that he could have been killed in an attempt on his life during a speech in Pennsylvania but a miracle happened. “The doctor at the hospital said he never saw anything like this, he called it a miracle. <…> I’m not supposed to be here, I’m supposed to be dead,” Trump said in an interview with the New York Post. According to Trump, the doctor told him that he had never seen anyone survive getting hit by an AR-15-style rifle. “I just wanted to keep speaking, but I just got shot,” he noted. According to the…

Jordan’s King Abdullah II received a call on Monday from the newly elected UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and the parties discussed the strengthening of ties between their countries, the Jordan News Agency reported. King Abdullah congratulated Starmer on his recent election victory and stressed Jordan’s commitment to enhancing cooperation for the benefit of both nations and the broader region’s security and stability. The conversation also addressed the pressing issue of Israel’s war in Gaza, with King Abdullah emphasizing the urgency of rallying the international community to secure an immediate and lasting ceasefire, ensure the protection of civilians, and increase…

The cost to ship a standard 40-foot container of toys, auto parts or other goods from Shanghai to New York has jumped to nearly $10,000, fueling frustration among importers and prompting some experts to say the market is in a bubble.