Author: Steven Sahiounie

Syria severed diplomatic ties with Ukraine in response to a similar decision made by Kiev in June, a Syrian foreign ministry source said. According to SANA, Damascus believes Kiev cut ties in 2018 when it refused to extend visas for Syrian diplomats in Ukraine, preventing them from fulfilling their obligations. After Damascus recognized the independence of the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk (DPR and LPR) in the Donbass region, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky declared on June 29 that “there will no longer be relations between Ukraine and Syria.” The Ukrainian foreign ministry announced the decision to sever diplomatic ties…

Tour group captured smoke rising from historic landmark on Arizona-Nevada border A fire broke out after an explosion at Hoover Dam, a major hydroelectric power plant on the border of US states of Arizona and Nevada, on Tuesday morning. The fire was put out by the time firefighters from nearby Boulder City arrived on the scene, but the moment of the explosion was captured by a tour group. “My goodness, something just blew up,” someone can be heard saying in a short video posted on Twitter by Kristy Hairston, a writer based in Nashville, Tennessee who was visiting the dam with…

Washington approved a major arms deal with Taiwan, drawing a swift rebuke from Beijing. On Monday, Beijing’s foreign and defense ministries issued harsh statements condemning the Biden administration’s approval of a new US arms sale to Taiwan. The Biden administration announced Friday a $108 million agreement to supply Taipei with tank and other combat vehicle equipment, as well as logistical support. The package of arms comes amid rising tension in the region. According to Chinese media, the deal drew a swift rebuke from Beijing, which demanded that the order be canceled. Commenting on the deal, Defense Ministry spokesperson Colonel Tan Kefei said…

On July 19, a Russian fighter aircraft, presumably Su-35, was shot down in the area of Novaya Kakhovka in the Kherson region. The area is under control of Russian military. The incident took place at about 8 p.m. The pilot ejected. Russian rescue helicopters are working at the crash site. a unit of the anti-aircraft missile forces of the Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine shot down The Air Forces Command of Ukrainian Armed Forces claimed that the aircraft was shot down by a unit of the anti-aircraft missile forces of the Ukrainian Air Forces. On the other…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator The Syrian Defense Forces (SDF) in the northeastern region of Syria have raised up the Syrian flag which represents the government in Damascus for the first time in years.  The SDF have been partnered with the US military in the fight against ISIS, but are now facing an even bigger and existential threat from Turkey. On Jul 18, in the northern countryside of Aleppo, two terrorist mercenaries working for Turkey, were wounded which resulted in clashes between militias working for Turkey against the united forces of SDF and Syrian Arab Army (SAA). Ilham Ehmed,…

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that any military attack on northern Syria will definitely harm Turkey, Syria, and the entire region and is rather to the benefit of the terrorists. The Supreme Leader made the remarks in a meeting in Tehran with visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Underlining the need to give a boost to cooperation between Iran and Turkey, Ayatollah Khamenei said that the volume and quality of exchanges and cooperation between the two countries are far less than the existing potential. He urged the need for the issue to…

Iran Currency Exchange (ICE) lists the ruble-rial pair ticker, as the first phase of the Iran-Russia banking measures package agreed upon during the CBI governor’s trip to Moscow. Iran and Russia have agreed to double their trade volume to 8 billion dollars in the short-term and to 15 billion dollars in the mid-term, while it stood at 4 billion dollars last year with 100 percent surge compared to the year before. The two oil- and gas-rich countries, both targeted by sanctions, have joined forces to neutralize economic pressure exerted by the US and Europe. Tehran and Moscow have agreed to…

“So far, Kiev officials have not shown any willingness to resume talks,” Leonid Slutsky said Russia will put forward tougher conditions in terms of both substance and time if talks with Ukraine are resumed, Leonid Slutsky, leader of Russia’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) and a member of the Russian delegation to the talks with Ukraine, said on Tuesday. “Today the conditions from our side will be tougher both on demilitarization and denazification, tougher in essence and in time of their execution. I emphasize that this is if the negotiation process is resumed,” Slutsky said at a press conference. “So far,…

In the United States, there are more guns than people, but they threaten mostly black people, said Vice President Kamala Harris. “The number of weapons produced in this country has tripled in the last 20 years. Today we have more weapons in the country than people,” she said, The Storiest reported. Harris emphasized that blacks are the vast majority of victims of armed attacks. “Black people make up 13% of the US population, but 62% are the victims of armed homicides” she added. According to the Gun Violence Archive portal, which collects statistics on incidents involving firearms, since the beginning of the…

Locals of Tanouryeh al-Ghamr village in Qamishli city staged a protest in condemnation of US backed-SDF militia’s acts against the people. Locals in Tanouryeh al-Ghamr village with participation of locals of neighboring villages staged a protest against SDF militia a day after a vehicle of the militia ran over a child, causing his death, local sources told SANA. The sources added that the angry protestors closed the highway with burning tires and threw SDF militia vehicles with stones, amid calls to expel the militia from their areas, prevent it from entering villages and towns of the area. Source: SANA