Author: Steven Sahiounie

Amid his visit to Kuwait, the Lebanese Foreign Minister stresses that Lebanon is aiming for dialogue. Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said Saturday that he will not “hand over Hezbollah’s weapons” during his visit this weekend to Kuwait. “I am not going (to Kuwait) to hand over Hezbollah’s weapons. I am not going to end Hezbollah’s existence, it is out of the question in Lebanon. We are going for dialogue,” Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib expressed in an interview. The minister’s visit to Kuwait comes days after his Kuwaiti counterpart Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah visited Lebanon, carrying a…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Saad Hariri, three-time Prime Minister from 2009 to 2021, announced his retirement from political life and has returned to his new home in Abu Dhabi. His announcement from Beirut on January 24 was followed by one of the worst snowstorms in recent history in Lebanon and Syria. Hariri’s announcement sent a cold chill through many who had supported him and his Future Party, as the country faces a parliamentary election in May. He explained that he had failed at his goal of making life better for the Lebanese people. In October 2019 violent street…

The withholding of aid comes after human rights groups called on the US to block the aid following Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s crackdown on dissent. According to US State Department officials, the current US administration is preparing to withhold Egypt $130 million in military aid for “human rights concerns” and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s tightening crackdown on dissent in recent years. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated in September that funding would be withdrawn if Egypt did not meet particular human-rights-related criteria imposed by Washington, which activists claim included the release of some political prisoners. Rights organizations have urged the administration…

The Russian Aerospace Forces deployed two Su-34 fighter bombers at the northeastern Syrian airport of al-Qamishli following the January 20 ISIS attack on Geweran prison in the nearby city of al-Hasakah. On January 25, a video and several photos showing the two Su-34s fighter bombers at the airport surfaced on social networks. ISIS terrorists attacked Geweran prison, which is run by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to free their comrades. However, they ended up capturing the prison and nearby areas. The SDF claimed on January 26 that it had recaptured Geweran. Nevertheless, as of January 29 clashes are still being reported around and…

Supply shortages and the Ukraine-Russia crisis raise concerns over energy supplies Global coal prices jumped by over a third in January, edging toward record highs reached in October 2021, due to supply shortages and tensions between Russia and Ukraine. The benchmark Newcastle coal index rose to $262 a ton. The coal market reacted to a month-long export ban by major supplier Indonesia, which halted deliveries following new domestic market sales regulations at the peak of the European heating season. The ban is due to be lifted on January 31, but experts are uncertain about the volume of coal the markets…

Lebanese President Michel Aoun affirms, after meeting the Grand Mufti of the Republic, Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, the importance of “cooperation between all parties and components to get out of the current crisis.” Lebanese President Michel Aoun affirmed Saturday that all necessary preparations are proceeding to hold the upcoming parliamentary elections on time, pointing out that no reasons exist to postpone them. After meeting with the Grand Mufti of the Republic, Sheikh Abdel Latif Derian, at Dar Al-Fatwa in Beirut, Aoun mentioned that Lebanon’s relations with the Arab countries were discussed, stressing the priority of civil peace in Lebanon. The…

Early on January 29, the Houthis (Ansar Allah) announced that they had targeted a large gathering of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)-backed Giants Brigades in the district of Usaylan in the Yemeni province of Shabwah with a ballistic missile. In a brief statement, Brig. Gen. Yahya Sari, a spokesman for the group, said that the missile strike killed or wounded 40 fighters and commanders of the Giants Brigades. Several military vehicles were also destroyed. These claims were dismissed by some Yemeni news sources, who said that the Houthis’ missile struck Abdullah bin Masoud mosque in the village of al-Safha. According…

Confrontations have erupted between Israeli occupation forces and residents in various areas of the West Bank in the refusal of settlement blocs. Confrontations erupted on Saturday between the Israeli occupation forces and the residents in several areas of the West Bank. Peaceful weekly marches were held in rejection of the establishment of settlement outposts in the village of Kafr Qaddoum, east of Qalqilya, and in the towns of Beita and Beit Dajan in Nablus. Protests were met with repression by the occupation forces, which led to the injury of a number of Palestinians, including three children. In Al-Khalil, confrontations erupted…

The scheduled combat-readiness testing has been underway in the country’s Western military district since Tuesday Soldiers and aviation personnel have completed all elements of combat-readiness drills and are now returning to their home bases, the commander of Russia’s Western military district said on Saturday. The Western military district includes units stationed in capital Moscow, Moscow Region, St Petersburg, Leningrad Region, the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad, and other regions. “All of the tasks that were set before the troops as part of the combat-readiness drills have been fully completed,” General-Colonel Alexander Zhuravlyov said, as cited by the military district’s press-service. Communications brigades,…

The Iranian hacker group “Moses Staff” hacked into CCTV cameras on occupied Palestinian streets. An Iranian hacker group going by the name of “Moses Staff” hacked into the Israeli closed-circuit television cameras (CCTV) on occupied Palestinian streets. On Friday morning, the group posted a video on its Telegram channel showing the hacking and wrote “We see with our eyes and have been surveilling you for many years, at every moment and on every step.” The group added that the hacking constitutes “one part” only of its surveillance over Israeli activities through access to CCTV cameras. The hacker group warned the Israelis that…