Author: Steven Sahiounie

The Greek island of Crete has been hit by an earthquake, leaving a trail of victims and damages behind. The earthquake is estimated to have had a magnitude of 5.8 according to the Athens Geodynamic Institute. Meanwhile, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) measured the earthquake at a magnitude of 6.5. One man was found dead in a chapel in the town of Arkalochori, south of the island’s capital, Heraklion. He was working on the chapel’s renovations when the chapel completely crumbled. Nine other people were injured in the quake according to civil protection authorities. The tremor forced people to…

Robot Soccer World Cup or RoboCup, an organization created by robotics scientists and university professors is promoting athletic robotics and AI research. The group has been running annual international football tournaments for robots since 1996, in an effort to one day make sports competitions between humans and robots a reality. “By the middle of the 21st Century, a team of fully autonomous humanoid robot soccer players shall win a soccer game, complying with the official rules of FIFA, against the winner of the most recent World Cup,” stated RoboCup’s website. Teams that participate in RoboCup already use human-shaped robots with advanced…

Brent crude oil continued making gains Tuesday, jumping above $80 a barrel, a first in nearly three years. The rise in value is attributed to escalating concerns about surging demands and supply anxieties as the world is emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic. With governments easing restrictions and lockdowns and vaccines rolling out, more and more are betting on oil, with natural gas being at its highest in seven years. At the same time, crude stockpiles have decreased as output by OPEC and other major producers, such as Russia, have been unable to cover the increase in demand. Brent made a…

An informed official in the Public Relations Department at the Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps expressed that “Israel,” supported by the US and some European countries, is the biggest threat to the security of the West Asia region. While giving a speech to a gathering of the academic elite on Tuesday, the official revealed Iran’s possession of numerous intelligence and operational scenarios about “Israel’s” sensitive centers and strategic systems. The official divulged that such information has changed Iran’s position from “ambiguity and lack of information to high transparency and accessibility, assuring that the Iranian Armed…

Yesterday, Monday, Iraqi diplomatic sources revealed information about a meeting that was held between Saudi and Iranian representatives in the capital, Baghdad, last week. Associated Press quoted an Iraqi official as saying that the representatives held a positive round of talks and discussed “pending issues between the two countries according to a previously agreed-on roadmap, including diplomatic representation between the two countries.” Saudi and Iranian representatives have held rounds of talks in Baghdad over the past months, since the first direct talks between Riyadh and Tehran last April. The meeting is the first since Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi took office last…

Asharq Al-Awsat, a Saudi newspaper, announced that the US National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, who arrived in the Saudi city of Neom yesterday evening, Monday, has scheduled to hold high-level talks with Saudi officials at the beginning of his tour in the region. He will be especially dealing with the Yemen and Iran “files.” According to the newspaper, Sullivan, the highest-ranking US official to visit Saudi Arabia since Joe Biden took office last January, will discuss “the Iranian nuclear file” and efforts to force peace initiatives to end the war in Yemen. AP: The visit comes following a reschedule Yesterday, Monday,…

The number of “murders and manslaughter” in the US rose by nearly 30% in 2020, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in its annual crime report on Monday. According to the report, violent crimes in the US rose for the first time in four years. Some experts attributed the increase to several reasons, such as repercussions of COVID-19, changes in policing, and increased gun sales. Justin Nix, an associate professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Nebraska in Omaha told the Washington Post that there’re “no real surprises” in the published data. However, Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins…

Caracas and Guaido’s opposition reported making progress toward resolving their differences in the Norway-mediated, New Mexico-held talks during their third round, which concluded on Monday. The positions of the two sides “moved closer in the search for solutions to the challenges in social, economic, and political matter,” said a statement read by Norwegian mediator Dag Nylander. The joint statement did not get into details regarding the areas in which progress was made during the negotiations, which aimed at solving the political crisis in Venezuela. However, the parties did report making advances in efforts to establish a mechanism for consultations with…

Yemen’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Al-Ezzi addressed the UN, saying that its recognition of Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government is the biggest political and humanitarian scandal in the history of the international community. In a series of tweets, Al-Ezzi accused the UN of trying to insult Yemen, which is a country rich in ancient history and civilization. He also questioned the UN’s motives behind recognizing Hadi as the legitimate president. Al-Ezzi described Hadi as a “mercenary” and a “criminal” wanted by the Yemeni judiciary, pointing out that the Sanaa government has called on world countries to delegitimize the mercenary government…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator The Middle East is a boiling cauldron about to overflow.  The occupation of Palestine continues to make the region unstable, and is a source of human rights abuses, and war crimes.  Add in the tensions between the US and Iran as they negotiate a new nuclear deal, and you have the region sitting on the edge of their seats.  Steven Sahiounie of MidEastDiscourse interviewed Dr. Ahmad Alderzi, the noted microbiologist and political activist, to get his take on the situation unfolding. Steven Sahiounie (SS): The Israeli occupation stated that they don’t mind a new…