Author: Steven Sahiounie

The Taliban must not use Afghanistan as a platform to destabilize nearby nations, Russia has insisted, while praising the militant group at talks in Moscow for working to establish peace despite fears of unrest in the region. On Wednesday, during a meeting with Taliban representatives, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the group must use its power as Afghanistan’s new de facto government to prevent further chaos in the region. “We call on the Taliban movement to strictly follow the line of preventing anyone from using the territory of Afghanistan against the interests of third countries, primarily against the immediate…

A volcanic eruption in Japan happened on Wednesday at 11:32 am, Tokyo time, according to Japan’s Meteorological Agency. The eruption occurred at Mount Aso on Japan’s main southern island of Kyushu. The 1,592-meter mountain in Kumamoto prefecture yields ashes, affecting towns within the mountain’s vicinities. The volcano spouted ash 3,500 meters into the sky. On a scale of 5, the meteorological agency raised the alert level to 3. It warned hikers and civilians not to approach the mountain, also cautioning against large volcanic blocks and pyroclastic flows within one kilometer of the mountain’s Nakadake crater. source : almayadeen.net

The Palestinian prisoner, who has been on hunger strike for 98 days, Kayed al-Fasfous, announced during an interview with Al Mayadeen that he is continuing his hunger strike, “especially after the Israeli court decided to freeze his administrative detention,” explaining that “the order is insufficient since his goal is freedom”. Al-Fasfous added, “This is the second administrative detention for me, and I resorted to the hunger strike after suffering greatly from the detainment, and the court keeps issuing an extension order, so I decided that hunger strike is the only way to go.” During the interview, he said he will attain…

Sources revealed to al-Mayadeen that the US military base in al-Tanf was bombed by 5 drones and missile launchers, as soldiers’ residences and military barracks were targeted, setting fire to the base and leading to its partial destruction. Al-Mayadeen sources indicated that all information concerning casualties remains “unavailable to this moment.” For its part, the Syrian opposition Observatory reported hearing explosions at the US military base, on the border between Syria, Jordan, and Iraq. In the same context, sources revealed to Sputnik that fire broke out inside the base, as well as in one of the nearby sites occupied by militants loyal to the US…

Syria called on UN Security Council to assume its responsibly and exert pressure on the Israeli occupation to stop its violations and illegal practices against citizens of the occupied Syrian Golan, stressing that the Golan is inevitably returning to the homeland, sooner or later, and that all the measures taken by the occupation are null and void and have no legal effect. Syria’s permanent representative to the UN, Bassam Sabbagh, said in a statement before the Security council during a session on the situation in the Middle East, that Syria is committed to its right to restore the entire occupied…

Iran’s top military commander says Tehran and Moscow have come to some “good agreements” concerning expansion of the two sides’ naval cooperation. Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri made the remarks after meeting with Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Vice-Admiral Vladimir Lvovich Kasatonov in St. Petersburg on Wednesday.“At this meeting, we talked about Iran-Russia maritime cooperation, and some good agreements came about,” Baqeri said. Detailing the issues that were discussed during the meeting, the Iranian general pointed to various aspects of the two sides’ maritime cooperation such as the issue of Iran’s participation…

A group of Russian and Chinese naval vessels have for the first time on record sailed through a strait separating the Sea of Japan from the Pacific, Japan has claimed. Yoshihiko Isozaki, Japan’s deputy chief cabinet secretary, said in a regular news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday that 10 vessels from China and Russia had a day earlier sailed through the Tsugaru Strait, which separates Japan’s main island from its northern island of Hokkaido. “The government is closely watching Chinese and Russian naval vessels’ activities around Japan like this one with high interest,” Isozaki told reporters at the presser. “We…

NATO’s offer to hold a Russia-NATO Council meeting remains relevant, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday, adding that Brussels expects Moscow’s response. “The offer to meet in the NATO-Russia Council is still on the table. It’s for Russia to respond in a positive way,” he said, noting with regret that the NATO-Russia relations are at their lowest point since the Cold War. “That’s actually not an argument against dialogue, that’s an argument in favor of a dialogue,” the official added.source : tass.com

Russia is not interested in the endless growth of energy prices, including gas, but this takes place beyond Moscow’s control, President Vladimir Putin said at the meeting with Cabinet members on Wednesday. “If there is a decline in consumption – and such situation eventually leads to reduced consumption, it will also affect our producing companies, including Gazprom,” Putin said. “That is why we are not interested in the endless increase of prices for energy resources, including gas. Nevertheless, developments are taking place, beyond our control,” Putin said. “These are largely artificial things made by our colleagues, including in Europe, but…

The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the terrorist bombing that targeted a military bus in Damascus on Wednesday. “We strongly condemn that heinous terrorist act and express our sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wish recovery to the wounded”, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. It considered that “this bloody crime is a blatant defiance which aims to question the ability of the authority in Syria to ensure the security of the capital, stir a new wave of violence and hinder efforts to resolve the political crisis in Syria.” The Ministry affirmed the importance of unifying…