Author: Steven Sahiounie

USS Harry S. Truman joins Neptune Strike ‘22 wargames in the Mediterranean Sea amid tensions with Russia The nuclear-powered fleet aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman will take part in next week’s NATO exercise in the Mediterranean Sea dubbed “Neptune Strike ‘22,” the Pentagon has announced. The 12-day exercise kicks off Monday and is supposed to “demonstrate NATO’s ability to integrate the high-end maritime strike capabilities of an aircraft carrier strike group to support the deterrence and defense of the alliance,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters Friday. Though the Truman and its strike group will be placed “under NATO operational control,” the overall command of the exercise will…

Human rights organizations condemn the Saudi-led coalition massacres against Yemenis. Western humanitarian organizations, led by the Norwegian Refugee Council, denounced the massacres committed by the Saudi-led coalition in Saada, Hudaydah, and Sanaa. The Norwegian Presidency of the UN Security Council condemned the recent airstrikes of the Saudi coalition on Yemen. “It’s not acceptable,” Norway’s Ambassador to the UN, Mona Juul, said of the strikes, calling for “de-escalation and restraint”. Dozens of victims under the rubble For his part, the Director of the Office of the Humanitarian Affairs Officer in Saada, Majd Al-Din Al-Razhi, told Al Mayadeen that there are dozens of victims under…

US State Secretary Antony Blinken says the US is concerned about the recent escalation in Yemen and calls for de-escalation A recent escalation in Yemen, in which the Saudi-led coalition committed another brutal massacre by targeting a detention facility in Saada, led the US State Department to condemn the escalation. “The escalation in Yemen, which resulted in more than 100 casualties in recent days, is of great concern for the United States,” the State Department statement said, addressing the Saudi-led coalition’s massacre, adding, “In particular, we are aware of reports of a Saudi-led Coalition strike that hit a detention center…

The Lebanese cabinet will discuss next Monday the draft budget for the current year, which includes a deficit of 15,000 billion Lebanese pounds, and will adopt an exchange rate of 20 thousand pounds against the US dollar. Significantly, a 3% on all imported goods and a customs fee of 10% on imported goods, if it is similarly manufactured in Lebanon, will be imposed. The draft budget will increase the tax on movable capital income, including interest on deposits and bonds, to 10%, and will witness imposing fees on empty real estate and shares for companies that own real estate. In addition,…

Yemen’s Supreme Political Council says the massacres committed by the Saudi-led coalition “will not go unpunished,” condemning international silence on the atrocities against the Yemeni people. According to Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen television network, the council said in a statement on Friday that “those who are silent on the massacres” should “swallow their tongues when the screams of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab of Emirates (UAE) and their users rise,” in an apparent reference to the United States and the Israeli regime. According to the statement, the targeting of telecommunication networks means the coalition aims to “commit more crimes away from…

Turkish combat drone targeted a vehicle of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as it was heading form the town of Tell Tamer to al-Hasakah city in northeastern Syria. According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, two fighters of the SDF’s Tell Tamer Military Council were killed in the drone strike. The Hawar News Agency said that the targeted vehicle was a part of reinforcements which were sent from Tell Tamer to al-Hasakah city to help put an end to a large-scale attack by ISIS cells on Geweran prison. ISIS cells launched the attack late on January 21 to free…

Clashes continue in the northeastern Syrian city of al-Hasakah despite repeated claims by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that ISIS’ large attack on Geweran prison has been repelled. ISIS terrorists attacked the SDF-run prison, which is located in the southern part of the city, late on January 20 with the aim of freeing their comrades. During the attack, the terrorists detonated a car bomb and a booby-trapped motorcycle at the prison’s main gate. They also blew up a number of nearby fuel tankers and tanks. The terrorists managed to breach SDF defenses, freeing some of the prison’s 5,000 Syrian and foreign…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Kazakhstan recently was in chaos as violence broke out on the streets, in what looked like the beginning of a popular uprising, similar to the 2011 ‘Arab Spring’. Once the dust had settled and arrests were made, the full story emerged that it originated with the Muslim Brotherhood and was supported by President Erdogan of Turkey, as part of his dream of a Neo-Ottoman Empire, with Erdogan playing the role of Sultan. Steve Sahiounie of MidEastDiscourse interviewed Ararat Kostanian in an effort to understand the back-story of the events in Kazakhstan, and how they…

The three countries will launch their 2022 Marine Security Belt exercises in the Indian Ocean on Friday, 21st of January, 2022. The spokesman for the 2022 Marine Security Belt exercises, Mustafa Tajeddin, announced that the maneuvers between Iran, Russia and China will be launched in the northern Indian Ocean Friday, with the participation of navy warships and aircraft of the three countries. The Admiral explained that the aim of the exercises is to “strengthen security in the region and express the goodwill and capabilities of Iran, Russia and China in joint support for global peace and maritime security, and to create a…

Occupied Jerusalem, SANA- The Israeli occupation forces arrested on Thursday seven Palestinians in the West Bank. The occupation forces stormed towns of al-Ram and Beit Anan, and Qalandia camp in occupied Jerusalem and Qabatiya town south of Jenin, and raided the Palestinians’ houses and arrested seven of them, Wafa news agency reported. The occupation troops continue their aggressive acts against the Palestinians through assaulting them, raiding their cities and towns and launching daily arrest campaigns, aiming at displacing them, seizing their lands and Judaizing them. Source: SANA