Author: Steven Sahiounie

Beijing has reaffirmed its strategic partnership with Islamabad and agreed to enhance defense cooperation Chinese and Pakistani officials have agreed to increase their cooperation in countering terrorism and other security concerns, deepening their alliance amid efforts by “outside forces” to divide the two countries. “Pakistan and China reaffirmed their strategic partnership in challenging times and agreed to continue regular exchange of perspectives on issues of mutual interest,” Islamabad’s military said in a statement on Sunday. The countries also vowed to enhance their ties on training, technology, and counterterrorism. The agreement followed talks during a four-day visit to Beijing by a Pakistani military delegation, headed by…

The Turkish occupation forces have continued to launch attacks on residential areas in Raqqa northern countryside. “The occupation troops shelled, with artillery, the vicinity of Saida and Ma’alaq villages and the M4 international highway, Raqqa northern countryside, causing material damages,” local sources told SANA. The sources added that the continued bombing by Turkish occupation and its terrorists on the northern areas of Raqqa province have obstructed the movement on public roads between villages, towns and the centers of the cities, in addition to displacing families. Source: SANA

Despite pressure from Congress, US President Joe Biden will likely meet Saudi Prince to deal with security issues and oil prices. After the postponed visit of US President Joe Biden to Saudi Arabia and “Israel”, the White House plans to announce the dates of the trip as early as Monday, June 13. According to two officials with immediate knowledge of the plans Congress had previously pushed back against the trip given their critical stance against the Kingdom and its leader for repeated human-rights abuses. Previously, a senior administration official told NBC News “We are working on a trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia for…

Oslo is terminating a deal for the NH-90 dating back 20 years and now demands that €500 million be reimbursed Norway, one of the founding NATO members, is terminating a contract for NH-90 military helicopters it signed back in 2001, the country’s Defense Minister Bjorn Arild Gram announced at a press conference on Friday. The model, which was developed specifically to meet the military alliance’s requirements, has been deemed suboptimal by the Norwegian military, which cited multiple defects and delays. As the model “will never be in a position to fulfill the requirements of the Norwegian armed forces,” Oslo is…

South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup said on Sunday that his country would enhance its defense capabilities and work closely with the United States and Japan to counter North Korea’s nuclear and missile threat. Lee, speaking at an Asian security meeting in Singapore, said the situation on the Korean peninsula posed a global threat and he urged North Korea to immediately end its nuclear weapon and missile programs, Reuters reported. The United States warned this month that North Korea is preparing to conduct a seventh nuclear test, and says it will again push for United Nations sanctions if that happens.…

Google’s LaMDA AI chatbot has raised concerns from a company engineer, which prompted the tech giant to place him on paid leave. An engineer at Google has been placed on administrative leave after he voiced concerns over the possibility that the company’s artificially intelligent chatbot, Language Model for Dialogue Applications, or LaMDA for short, could be sentient, the Washington Post reported on Saturday. “If I didn’t know exactly what it was, which is this computer program we built recently, I’d think it was a 7-year-old, 8-year-old kid that happens to know physics,” Google engineer Blake Lemoine told the newspaper. It said that…

Despite the attempts of Ukrainian media to balme Russian forces for destruction of the Svyatohorsk Lavra during the battles, the mayor of the city of Svyatohorsk confirmed that the sacred place was set on fire by the retreating Ukrainian units. Russian forces claimed control over the city of Svyatohorsk on June 6. The local monastery located on the right bank of the Seversky Donets River was used as a military base of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU). Ukrainian forces deployed their artillery there and took hostage the monks. As a result, three civilians in the Svyatohorsk Lavra were killed. After…

Sub: The unmanned vessel can fight all types of enemies, local media says Beijing’s unmanned stealth combat vessel has successfully completed its three-hour maiden sea voyage off Panzhi Island in the East China Sea, Chinese media reported on Saturday. The state-run newspaper Global Times reported that the 200-ton ship can be sent into “dangerous combat zones” on reconnaissance missions and to fight aircraft, submarines and other surface vessels without the risk of casualties aboard. The paper added that drone ships could be used for coastal defense, or operate alongside larger vessels. The ship can travel at speeds of more than 20 knots…

There are roughly 2.3 million people in the Gaza Strip and they consume 500 tons of flour a day. For years, they have relied on exports from Russia and Ukraine but the outbreak of Moscow’s special military operation has disrupted these supplies sending prices to unprecedented heights. Wheat has long been a staple of Palestinian cuisine, with 500 tons of flour being consumed every day in the Gaza Strip alone. The outbreak of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine, however, and the subsequent shortage of wheat has led to Gazans tightening their belts. Running out of Bread Adham Al-Basiouny, the official spokesman…

Mali has been struck by a terrorist attack that killed civilians and officers in the county’s southeast, with at least five people killed. An attack at a military checkpoint in the southeastern Sikasso region of Mali claimed the lives of at least five people, including civilians and customs officers, local and military sources reported early Sunday. According to a military source that talked to AFP, the terrorist attack killed seven civilians and customs officers at the Koutiala checkpoint. However, a local councilor put the death toll at five. No sources have detailed the number of civilians and officers killed by the…