Author: Steven Sahiounie

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi exchanged congratulatory messages on the 50th anniversary of Chinese-Iranian diplomatic relations. “Since the establishment of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement between the two countries in 2016, mutual political trust has been strengthened and cooperation has increased,” divulged Jinping in his letter. The Chinese president also expressed his optimism for the future of Chinese-Iranian relations and his country’s willingness to “cooperate with the Iranian president to strengthen friendship and enhance cooperation in the interest of both countries.” On his end, Raisi stressed that Iran and China are “ancient civilizations,” and their friendship…

The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed Monday that Russia is satisfied with the peaceful transition of power in Afghanistan. Russia, through a Foreign Ministry statement, expressed its hope that future Afghan authorities would respect basic human rights. The statement indicated that it will make all efforts possible to help in terms of a settlement in Afghanistan. Regarding removing the Taliban from the list of designated terrorist groups, Russia said they must first verify that the new authorities are acting civilly, noting that the chaos at Kabul airport was caused by the Americans during their evacuation. Vladimir Jabbarov, the Russian First Deputy…

The Tunisian Ennahda movement announced today, Monday, that its Executive Office met and discussed the dangerous ramifications of President Kais Saied’s extraordinary measures, as well as his actions’ negative political and economic impacts on Tunisia’s democratic experience. The Movement’s executive office met to discuss a number of domestic and foreign issues, according to its statement. The first was that President Saied must lift the blockage on Parliament, allowing it to resume its regular function in accordance with the constitution. Second, the President should stop the violations he is committing, as they are endangering Tunisia’s long-standing democratic experience. Furthermore, Ennahda’s statement reminds President Saied…

The destructive earthquake that struck Haiti on Saturday left 1,297 victims so far, with 5,700 reported injured. The search for missing people is ongoing. The 7.2-magnitude earthquake left the Caribbean nation heavily damaged, with 13,694 homes and structures turned into rubbles and damaging another 13,785, displacing thousands of Haitians. Les Cayes, southwestern Haiti, has been especially damaged by the disaster. The scarcity of medical assistance only made matters worse as multiple hospitals were struck, leaving the remaining functional hospitals struggling with a large number of wounded citizens. This disaster comes with the threat of Tropical Depression Grace looming around, a hurricane…

After learning about the characteristic indications of infection early on in the pandemic, which include loss of taste and smell, fever, cough, shortness of breath, and exhaustion. The question remains, have the symptoms of the delta variant changed? With the limited data available, there is still much to know. Severe symptoms such as trouble breathing, or chest pain, are more commonly developed by unvaccinated patients. According to the New York Times, in states such as Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas, which have lower vaccination rates and unvaccinated children, people are being admitted to hospitals in greater numbers than other times during the pandemic.…

Mobile telecommunications company T-Mobile announced the start of a probe into claims of clients’ data leaks. The investigation started after an online forum post claimed to be selling the customers’ data stolen from T-Mobile’s servers. The data in question includes names, addresses, and Social Security numbers for more than 100 million people. Initial reports confirmed the authenticity of the claim. A T-Mobile spokesperson said: “We are aware of claims made in an underground forum and have been actively investigating their validity.” In his post, the seller was asking for $270,000 in cryptocurrency, i.e. 6 bitcoins, to sell the data of…

The administration of US President Joe Biden is set to announce the largest long-term increase in food stamp benefits in the program’s history, giving Americans more money to buy groceries and adding billions of dollars in costs to the government. Bloomberg quoted a US official, before the announcement which is expected today, saying that the average benefit will increase by more than 25% in October from pre-pandemic levels for 42 million people enrolled in the program. This increase means the average monthly benefit will “rise by $36 per person from $121,” according to the US official. Anti-hunger advocates stated that…

A spokeswoman for the Chinese government stated today that China is willing to deepen its “friendly and cooperative” relations with the Taliban. Spokeswoman Hua Chunying disclosed that the Taliban have expressed their desire to develop good relations with China, detailing that they aspire to see China’s participation in the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan. Chunying expressed China’s respect for the Afghan people’s right to self-determination and is willing to develop friendly and cooperative relations with Afghanistan. Following the rapid takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban fighters, Chunying called on the movement to ensure “a peaceful transition” by “establishing an open,…

The administration of Hamid Karzai International Airport in the Afghan capital, Kabul, suspended Monday commercial flights “until further notice,” to allow civil aviation to transport departing passengers. Local media quoted the airport administration saying that commercial air traffic was “temporarily suspended,” due to the chaos and crowding caused by the urge of citizens to leave the country. Many countries began evacuating their nationals from Afghanistan after the Taliban took control of large areas of the country, including the capital, Kabul, late on Sunday. Video footage posted on social media showed scenes of chaos on the airport runaway as Afghans try…

The German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel once said, “We learn from history that we learn nothing from history.” This quote perfectly paints a picture of the repeated US foreign policy failures from Hanoi, to Beirut, to Kabul, to Baghdad, to Havana, and so on and on. The never-ending costs of US failure, in lives and dollars, are tragic for those living under occupation and others recruited to force it. The poor decisions of the United States will go down in history, never to be forgotten.  Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary…