Author: Steven Sahiounie

Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Ahmed Hafez said Egyptian FM Sameh Shoukry and his Syrian counterpart discussed the means of ending the crisis in Syria on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York. Mekdad stressed the importance of the relations between the two nations, especially considering the historic ties between them. The spokesman indicated that the two foreign ministers met at the Permanent Mission of Egypt to the United Nations in New York, not disclosing further details. بمقر البعثة المصرية في نيويورك… وزير الخارجية #سامح_شكري يستقبل الآن وزير الخارجية السوري فيصل المقداد، وذلك للتباحث حول سبل إنهاء الأزمة…

Nearly all of the 15,000 Haitian migrants who had been at the US-Mexico borders for days, seeking asylum, have left the camps they set up after abuse from the United States and a deal with Mexico. Mexico’s deal was with the migrants ‘causing a crisis in Mexico’ after the United States turned them back. At Ciudad Acuna, a Mexican city just across the US borders, migrants were seen packing up and getting into vans as they were being transported into shelters. Only a few hours beforehand, Washington had announced that no migrants who were ‘camping illegally’ under a bridge on the…

More than 100 officials of the Tunisian Ennahda movement announced their resignation from the movement. Tunisian channel, Nesma, reported that among the resigning officials are deputies and former members of the Constituent Assembly and the Shura Council. The resigning officials issued a signed statement in which they held the wrong political choices of the Ennahda leadership responsible for the movement’s isolation. The leader ship was also held accountable for its ‘failure to engage effectively in any common front to resist President Kias Saied’s authoritarian decisions of September 22, 2021.’ Among the resigning officials is Samir Dilou, who pointed out that there…

The unofficial page of the Moroccan Armed Forces on Facebook, Far-Maroc, reported that Morocco received the first batch of Turkish Bayraktar TB2 combat drones. Local Moroccan media said that Rabat ordered 13 Bayraktar TB2 drones in April following a $70 million signed contract with the private Turkish company Baykar. Baykar is run by one of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s sons-in-law and has been exporting its Bayraktar TB2 to Ukraine, Qatar and Azerbaijan. A circulated report mentioned that Rabat aims to “modernize the arsenal of the Moroccan Armed Forces (FAR) in order to prepare for any danger and recent hostilities.”…

A suicide car exploded Saturday at a checkpoint near the presidential palace in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital. The explosion left 8 dead and was claimed by Al-Shabaab, a Somali armed group, according to the police. “We have confirmed that eight people, most of them civilians, died and seven others were wounded in the car bomb blast,” district police chief Mucawiye Ahmed Mudey told reporters. A witness told Reuters that they saw seven cars and three rickshaws destroyed in the aftermath of the blast, adding that they saw the whole junction covered in blood. Another witness said the car bomb was detonated when police stopped the…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Reports that Ayman Hariri had been asked to leave Saudi Arabia after his home was confiscated appeared in Al Akhbar.  He is now said to be living in Abu Dhabi, where his half-brother Saad lives.  Saad and Ayman were partners in the Saudi Oger Company, which their father had founded in 1978.  Ayman sold his share to Saad in 2008.  In 2010, Forbes ranked Ayman No. 22 among the richest Arabs, and by 2012 his worth was estimated at $2.15 billion.  However, after the company became bankrupt, owing $4 billion, the assets were confiscated…

The World Health Organization is strengthening its air quality guidelines and setting a higher bar for policymakers and the public – its first update to said guidelines in 15 years. The UN health agency said air pollution was now a prominent environmental threat to human health, with 7 million premature deaths a year. “Urgent action is needed” to reduce exposure to air pollution, it said, putting it on the same level as smoking and unhealthy eating. “WHO has adjusted almost all the air quality guideline levels downwards, warning that exceeding the new… levels is associated with significant risks to health,”…

The Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network said kayakers noticed a dolphin stranded in shallow waters, at Lighthouse Lakes, near Port Aransas, according to UPI. It took a group effort to rescue the dolphin stranded in the shallow waters over the weekend. Several volunteer groups took part in the rescue mission. “We made sure we had everything we needed to do it safely for the animal and the people,” Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network Executive Director Heidi Whitehead told KIII-TV. “But we knew it was at utmost importance we got out there as quickly as possible and get that dolphin rescued,” Whitehead added. The dolphin…

Taiwan is applying to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) days after China expressed its intention to do so. Eleven countries from Asia and the Pacific region signed the CPTPP in 2018. It is the biggest free-trade agreement in the said region, representing 13.5% of the world economy and 500 million persons. The spokesperson of the Taiwanese government Lo Ping-cheng announced, “Most of (the CPTPP’s) member countries are Taiwan’s key trade partners, accounting for over 24% of Taiwan’s international trade.” “Taiwan can’t be left out in the world and has to integrate into the regional economy,”…

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban government announced on Friday that the Taliban does not intend to extradite the former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. He did however demand the return of the country’s money. In an interview with Sputnik, Mujahid explained that Ashraf Ghani stole Afghanistan’s money and that the money is the right of the people. Mujahid confirmed the designation of the movement’s spokesperson, Suhail Shaheen as Afghanistan’s envoy to the UN. It is noteworthy that the Taliban has yet to receive a response from the organization. When questioned on whether foreign help would be accepted to mediate for the…