Author: Steven Sahiounie

US President Joe Biden and French Counterpart Emmanuel Macron spoke Wednesday – a first since the whole quarrel over AUKUS – which saw the US and the UK selling nuclear-powered submarines to Australia. That deal led to Canberra severing a multi-billion dollar deal with Paris on conventional submarines. The two presidents agreed to ease tensions in light of said row. The two presidents spoke on a call and afterward issued a joint statement vowing to launch a process of “in-depth consultations” to restore confidence between their two countries. The joint statement also said they agreed to meet in Europe at…

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, met Wednesday with Chief of Russian General Staff, General Valery Gerasimov, in Helsinki, Finland. The details of the talks remained obscure, as the two sides agreed not to disclose them. However, the two parties said the meeting was productive, saying it “makes the world a safer place” when “military leaders of great powers communicate.” This meeting, the first between the two senior generals since December 2019, aimed at “improving military leadership communication between the two nations for the purposes of risk reduction and operational de-confliction,” said Colonel Dave Butler,…

Tunisian President Kais Saied took Wednesday exceptional measures to enhance his presidential powers to include executive and legislative measures. The provisions, which were published in the official gazette in the form of articles, come around two months after he initially assumed power by suspending Parliament and dismissing the Prime Minister. “Legislative texts will be promulgated in the form of decrees signed by the President of the Republic,” one of the articles stipulates. “The President of the Republic presides over the Council of Ministers and may mandate the Head of Government to replace him/her,” said another. President Saied has insisted his actions are…

The Algerian High Security Council decided Wednesday to close Algiers’ airspace to all Moroccan aircraft, be it civil or military, the Algerian presidency announced. The statement revealed that the decision came in view of the “continued provocations and hostile practices on the Moroccan side.” The decision was announced in the wake of a meeting for Algeria’s High Security Council headed by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. The meeting was held to discuss the latest developments on the Moroccan-Algerian borders. “The High Security Council has decided to shut its airspace immediately to all civilian and military aircraft as well as to those…

Chinese president, Xi Jinping, said on Tuesday that China will stop funding coal projects overseas, ending a major source of support for dirty energy contributing to climate change. Xi Addressed the UN General Assembly and made the promise vowing to accelerate efforts aimed at helping the world battle the climate crisis. “China will step up support for other developing countries in developing green and low carbon energy and will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad,” Xi announced in a pre-recorded address. The Chinese president added that: “We should foster new growth drivers in the post-Covid era and jointly achieve…

French Culture Minister, Roselyne Bachelot, announced in a press conference yesterday, Monday, that her country has received nine Picasso artworks that will enter the national collections at the Picasso Museum in 2022. The artworks were donated by Picasso’s daughter, Maya. The nine artworks include six paintings, two sculptures and a sketchbook, all belonging to the famous painter. Only one artwork, “The child with a lollipop sitting under a chair,” was presented to the press yesterday at the Picasso Museum in Paris. It is noteworthy to mention that all the artworks will be presented to the public starting from April 2022.…

Cholera has killed more than 2,300 people and infected thousands more in Nigeria’s worst cholera outbreak in years. Those who died from the virus are mostly children, and it has been ongoing in the African nation since the start of the year, a senior health official said Monday. Africa’s most populous country has long been suffering from a high rate of water-borne diseases because of the rundown infrastructure and lack of investment. According to what the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control head of communications, Yahya Disu, told AFP, the country has recorded a total of 69,952 suspected cholera cases and 2,323…

On Monday evening, Israeli Channel 12 announced that hackers penetrated the servers of the communications company “Voiceneter”, which provides phone services to numerous Israeli companies. The company did not pay any ransom and admitted they have been subjected to a cyber attack. The communication systems of a long chain of companies in the commercial sector were paralyzed. The Israeli “Ynet” website reported that a hacker calling himself “Deus” had exposed the information of 8000 customers, threatening to sell them. After the company’s website was downloaded due to the hack, hackers displayed voice conversations and chats with customers and via “WhatsApp”, indicating that they…

With chancellor Angela Merkel’s term nearing its end as she is due to leave her office on Sunday, speculations rise about the performance of the German economy since the next government is almost certainly going to be formed by a coalition. An article published by CNBC predicts that the next coalition forming the German government would have a considerable effect on the economy of the country. According to Eurostat as per the article, almost a quarter of the EU’s GDP is generated by Germany in 2019 (24.7%). Polls predict that the left-leaning Social Democratic Party (SDP) will lead with 25%…

Israeli media said congress removing military aid to “Israel” from legislation to fund the US federal government would have adverse effects on US-Israeli relations. “Israel will receive military aid from the United States. However, that would take some time,” said Israeli “Channel 13,” who called this a “failure for the Biden administration.” The channel shared its view that Congress removing aid to “Israel” reflects the ‘progressive’ democrats’ influence and power in US politics, adding that the objection would have adverse effects on US-Israeli relations. Democrat lawmakers objected to a provision in the stopgap spending bill, which prevented aid to “Israel.”…