Author: Steven Sahiounie

Early on June 16, a US special operation force conducted a raid in the Turkish-occupied village of al-Humayrah in the northern countryside of Syria’s Aleppo. The force reached the village, which is located to the southwest of the town of Jarablus, in six helicopters coming from the direction of Syria’s northeastern region, where the US-led coalition maintains several bases. The helicopters, a combination of Black Hawks and Chinooks, were targeted by Turkish-backed militants while heading towards al-Humayrah. Clashes were reported during the alleged raid, which lasted for seven minutes only. Fighter jets and combat helicopters were flying over al-Humayrah and…

Late last week, the Donetsk People’s Republic’s (DPR) Supreme Court ruled that three mercenaries captured while fighting for the Ukrainian forces, UK citizens Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, as well as Moroccan Saadun Brahim, had all been sentenced to death. Denis Pushilin, head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), has told Sputnik that the republic would decide on the execution of UK and Moroccan mercenaries no sooner than in a month. “There is a month to appeal the decision in the constitutional order. After an appeal is filed or not, we will come to the conclusion that the DPR’s Ministry of Justice…

The Israeli ambassador to Moscow was summoned by the Russian Foreign Ministry, which expressed “serious concern” over recent airstrikes against Damascus International Airport. The Russian foreign ministry announced the summoning in a statement on Wednesday after Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov met with Alexander Ben Zvi. “Serious concern was again expressed over the June 10 Israeli air force attack on the civilian airport of Damascus,” the ministry said. The statement said the attack had damaged the runway, navigation equipment, and buildings, and disrupted international civilian air traffic. “The ambassador was told that the justification received from the Israeli side regarding…

The number of monkeypox cases in Britain exceeded 500 cases on Wednesday, according to the latest official figures. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it detected 52 additional monkeypox cases in England, one in Scotland and one in Wales, raising the total confirmed number of cases in Britain to 524 as of Tuesday. There are 504 confirmed cases in England, 13 in Scotland, two in Northern Ireland and five in Wales, the UKHSA said. “Anyone can get monkeypox, particularly if you have had close contact with an individual with symptoms,” the UKHSA said. David Heymann, professor of infectious disease epidemiology…

This was the third meeting of the contact group, which brought together about 45 countries, including Ukraine NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed new commitments by NATO countries to provide weapons to Kiev including heavy equipment and long-range systems, according to a statement that the alliance released on Wednesday after a closed-door meeting of a contact group to support Ukraine. “NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg participated in a meeting of the US-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Brussels on Wednesday (15 June 2022), to discuss Ukraine’s urgent needs for military equipment,” the statement said. “The Secretary General thanked the United…

Ankara wants Nordic countries to join a security alliance to address terrorism concerns. Turkey has rejected NATO’s offer to hold trilateral talks with Finland and Sweden, and the meeting scheduled for Wednesday did not take place, according to sources. The meeting’s goal was to address Ankara’s concerns about Sweden’s and Finland’s NATO bids. According to the Financial Times, Ankara has demanded concrete proposals from Helsinki and Stockholm regarding the termination of ties with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Earlier, NATO has been attempting to resolve tensions Turkey faces with Finland and Sweden, as Ankara has been blocking the way for the 2 countries to…

H2O is indeed present in the rocks gathered by the Chang’e-5 lunar lander, Chinese scientists have said Indications that water could be present in the rocks gathered by Chang’e 5 lander on the Moon have been confirmed by testing on Earth, Chinese scientists have said. They’ve shared their findings in an article, published this week in the magazine Nature Communications. The lunar lander touched down on the Moon in December 2020, gathering some 1.7 kilograms (over 3.5lbs) of rocks and lunar soil, known as regolith. The craft also used its on-board instruments to measure the chemical composition of the samples…

The US Federal Reserve warned during the previous raise earlier this year that it planned to continue increasing the interest rate throughout the year to fight historically high inflation in the country that has started to severely affect ordinary people’s budgets. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 75 points, bringing its value to between the 1.5-1.75% range. This is the third time the Fed has raised rates this year, and is the biggest one-time increase in 28 years since 1994. By increasing interest rates and trying to slow down the overheated economy, the Fed is looking to reign in…

Late on June 15, militants based in the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib fired two rockets at the Armenian town of Kesab in the nearby northern countryside of Lattakia. According to the Syrian Arab News Agency, the rockets landed in the city causing some material losses only. A photo from the scene of the strike show the remains of what appears to be a Grad-type 122 mm rocket. The rocket strike may have been carried out to commemorate the eighth anniversary of the 2014 Lattakia offensive, during which a coalition of al-Qaeda and Free Syrian Army factions occupied Kesab…

US will send artillery and advanced rockets to Kiev Washington will give Kiev another $1 billion in “security assistance,” including artillery, ammunition and advanced missiles, US President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday after a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky. Biden informed Zelensky that the aid would include “additional artillery and coastal defense weapons, as well as ammunition for the artillery and advanced rocket systems that the Ukrainians need to support their defensive operations in [Donbass],” according to a readout of the call released by the White House. The two leaders also discussed Wednesday’s meeting of the ‘contact group’ in Brussels, led by US…