Author: Steven Sahiounie

The Israeli occupation forces attacked a leisure event west of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, causing dozens of Palestinian children to suffocate. Dozens of Palestinian children suffocated Friday evening following an attack by the Israeli occupation forces during a leisure event west of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank. Marwan Nofal, head of Ras Karkar village council, said that the Israeli occupation forces “fired tear gas canisters towards an amusement park in the village, close to a mosque, coinciding with the evening and Tarawih prayers. “About 300 people, most of them children, were attending the event, in addition to…

Russian forces hit 66 Ukrainian military facilities over night, official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense Igor Konashenkov announced Russian air defense systems shot down Ukrainian Su-25 aircraft in the Kharkov region. At the same time, Pantsir-S crew shot down two Tochka-U tactical missiles in the air around the settlement of Chernobaevka, Major General Igor Konashenkov announced on Saturday. “Russian air defense systems shot down Su-25 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Forces in the Novaya Dmitrovka area of the Kharkov region,” he said. The Russian Aerospace Forces hit 66 military facilities in Ukraine overnight, including three warehouses with rocket…

On April 22, the U.S. Department of Defence published a “fact sheet on U.S. security assistance for Ukraine”. The document includes the list of weapons that have already been delivered and those that the United States is yet to transfer to Ukraine: “As of April 22, the United States has now committed more than $4 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden Administration, including approximately $3.4 billion since the beginning of Russia’s unprovoked invasion on February 24. On April 21, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced the authorization of a Presidential Drawdown of security assistance…

The Norwegian ‘Oil Fund’ has reported a $74 billion loss in the first quarter Norway announced on Thursday that the nation’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, lost $74 billion (- 4.9%) during the first quarter of the year due to the market turmoil caused by geopolitical tensions in Ukraine. According to the country’s central bank, which operates the $1.3 trillion fund, the world’s largest single shareholder lost 5.2% on stocks and 4.8% on fixed income. “The first quarter has been characterized by geopolitical turbulence, which has also affected the markets,” the deputy head of the fund, Trond Grande, said in…

Beijing’s UN ambassador has blasted arbitrary seizures of countries’ assets China has called on Western states to refrain from freezing the foreign reserves of other nations, saying that the measure undermines world economic stability. The Chinese ambassador to the UN, Zhang Jun, made the remarks at a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine on Tuesday. The call comes a month after roughly half of Russia’s foreign exchange reserves, worth over $300 billion, were frozen by Western countries as part of sanctions over Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine. “Arbitrary freezes of foreign exchange reserves of other countries also constitute a violation…

On April 19, Reuters reported a series of questions to the White House asking about an increase in artillery supplies to Ukraine, with U.S. President Joe Biden stating that the U.S. was going to increase supplies. In turn, White House spokeswoman, Psaki, tated that: “we will continue to supply more ammunition to Ukraine, along with increased arms shipments.” The White House will announce a new “big package” of military aid to Ukraine these days. Officials said the size of the package will be similar to the $800 million announced by Biden’s office last week. They also specified that the new…

China stresses that the United States should stop using various false pretexts to vilify Beijing and ruin its image, especially the Ukraine crisis. The US government should stop underestimating China’s resolve and ability to protect its national interests, Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe told his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, during a phone call on Wednesday. “China hopes to establish a healthy and stable relationship with the United States, and [China] will protect its national interests and dignity. The US should not underestimate China’s resolve and capabilities,” the ministry announced. Wei added that if the Taiwan issue was resolved in an…

The Russian military has begun to use surveillance aerostats to keep an eye on supply lines and hot fronts in the Donbass region. On April 20, TV Zvezda aired a report showing a АVK-05 surveillance aerostat that was recently deployed over an unspecified part of Luhansk to enhance situation awareness and security measures in the region. The AVK-05 aerostat can operate as high as 1,000 meters with an endurance of up to 75 hours. The aerostat is usually equipped with an electro-optical\thermal imaging system with an effective range of ten kilometers. Footage from the surveillance system can be directly relied…

Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated the military on the successful launch of the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), noting that this unique weapon will force everyone who tries to make threats against Russia to think twice. Before the Sarmat launch, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told the president that the preparations to test fire the missile had been completed, and then footage of the launch was aired and watched by the president. “I congratulate you on the successful launch of the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile. It is a great and landmark event in the development of advanced weapon systems…

Kiev agrees with UN secretary-general’s call for a pause in fighting ahead of the Orthodox Easter The foreign ministry of Ukraine said on Wednesday that Kiev is in favor of a four-day “Easter ceasefire” proposed by the UN secretary general, and remains committed to resolving the conflict with Russia peacefully and through diplomacy. However, Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, had a day earlier, contradicted this stance by telling French media the solution could be found only on the battlefield. “We fully share the opinion that a humanitarian pause is necessary for the safe evacuation of thousands of civilians wishing to leave the dangerous zones of ongoing and…