Author: Steven Sahiounie

The 84-year-old pontiff has left hospital 10 days after undergoing surgery to rectify a condition that had caused the narrowing of his colon. Local media outlets report that the Pope was transported by car from Rome’s Gemelli Hospital to the Vatican early on Wednesday morning. In a daily update published on July 13, the director of the Holy See’s press office, Matteo Bruni, had hinted that the pontiff would soon be leaving hospital. It read: “The Holy Father is continuing his planned treatment and rehabilitation, which will allow him to return to the Vatican as soon as possible.” It was expected that the pontiff…

A doctor who has joined other medical professionals in calling for Julian Assange’s release from prison told RT that the WikiLeaks co-founder’s arbitrary and cruel detention continues to put him at risk of suicide. The same concerns about Assange’s mental health that led to the High Court in London blocking his extradition to the US in January are still relevant, perhaps even more so, today, Dr. William Hogan, a specialist in internal medicine and professor of biomedical informatics at the University of Florida’s College of Medicine, said. Hogan was among more than 200 medical experts who signed an open letter…

A spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry has rejected US claims that Tehran was involved in a plot to kidnap a journalist based in New York who is critical of the Iranian government, dismissing them as “baseless and ridiculous.” Saeed Khatibzadeh blasted the US accusation that Tehran was complicit in the attempted kidnapping after American authorities claimed that an Iranian intelligence official was involved in the conspiracy. The spokesman said on Wednesday that “this new claim by the US government… is so baseless and ridiculous that it is not really worth answering.” “This is not the first time that the United States…

(L) Supporters of US President Donald Trump protest outside the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC. © ALEX EDELMAN / AFP; (R) People watch as the Stonewall Jackson statue is removed from Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia on July 1, 2020. © Ryan M. Kelly / AFP The US president took political exaggeration to the extreme when he said the Capitol rioters were worse than the Confederates. With this historical ignorance, he seems intent on framing all his opponents as enemies of the state. Hyperbole is often commonplace within political theater. Many politicians know the worth of…

People in France have taken to the streets to protest against the government’s decision to make Covid-19 vaccination compulsory for health workers and to introduce a health pass to access bars and restaurants. Protests took place across France on Wednesday with heated clashes erupting with police in Paris. A number of groups, including those associated with the Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vest) movement, announced their intention to hold demonstrations across the country on Tuesday following the government’s announcement of compulsory vaccinations for health workers and the introduction of a national Covid-19 passport. In Paris, eyewitness footage captured people fleeing from tear…

The Spin Boldak-Chaman border crossing connects the towns of Wesh in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province and Chaman in Pakistan’s Balochistan. Nearly 70,000 people are said to use the crossing every day. The Taliban* takeover of the border town comes after days of fighting with Afghan government forces for control of Kandahar. The advancing Taliban fighters in Afghanistan on Wednesday took control of the border crossing between Spin Boldak and Chaman after the Islamist outfit took control of the town of Wesh in Kandahar province. The move was confirmed by the Taliban’s official spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid. The Taliban last controlled the crossing in 2001,…

South Africa descended into chaos on Friday after protests ignited by the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma over skipping a corruption probe transformed into what has become the worst turmoil in the country in years. A man in a police jacket has been caught red-handed by an angry mob in South Africa beside his car, packed with what appears to be looted goods, as the nation is hit by major unrest due to former President Jacob Zuma’s imprisonment, in addition to massive unemployment and a weak economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. In a video of the incident, uploaded on Twitter,…

Late last month, several parties filed a petition to impeach Jair Bolsonaro, who is accused of committing 23 crimes, with the most recent accusation made in connection with the purchase of the Covaxin vaccine against COVID-19 and allegations of misconduct related to it. Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has been hospitalised to investigate the cause of an unrelenting bout of hiccups, according to a note from the president’s office, released by the G1 Globo news portal. The president will remain under medical observation for up to 48 hours, the note said, adding that he was “in good spirits and doing well”.…

More than 3,600 people suffered violent deaths during The Troubles – 30 years of sectarian strife in Northern Ireland, which was ended by the Good Friday Agreement. But in the last 20 years there have been repeated attempts to get to the bottom of who perpetrated certain atrocities and bring them to justice. The Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis has announced plans to introduce a statute of limitations which would effectively block the prosecution of soldiers for crimes committed during The Troubles. It comes two weeks after the Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland dropped charges against two retired British Army soldiers over…

On the sixth signing anniversary of the landmark Iran nuclear deal, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif highlights the failure of the United States’ so-called ‘maximum pressure campaign’ and sanctions, citing Tehran’s progress, including in the nuclear field, despite the bans. In a tweet on Wednesday, Zarif marked the anniversary of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), saying, “6 years ago today, #JCPOA resolved a UNSC Chapter VII issue without resorting to war. “ He pointed to different approaches taken by the US administrations since the deal was signed in 2015, noting they failed to achieve their goals and will to do so in…