Author: Steven Sahiounie

European shares fell on Thursday, recording the biggest daily loss in a month, as lower commodity prices pushed mining stocks lower, while luxury goods stocks were affected by a Chinese attempt to redistribute wealth. The European “Stoxx 600” index fell 1.6% to its lowest level in two weeks, while shares of mining companies fell 4.2%, recording the largest one-day decline since last March. Shares of luxury goods companies with significant exposure to China’s economy, such as LVMH, Kering, and Richemont, fell between 5.8% and 9.2% due to Beijing’s plans to target excessive corporate profits and wealth inequality. Bank shares, including…

In a speech on the occasion of the tenth of Muharram, Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, assured the Lebanese people that the first Iranian ship loaded with diesel is bound to set sail towards Lebanon in a few hours. Nasrallah spoke about the rationale behind Hezbollah’s decision to request Iran’s assistance, citing the embargo imposed on Lebanon as the main reason. Nasrallah confirmed that several ships will eventually follow suit as well. The Secretary-General warned against any attempts to intercept the ship, which will become equated to Lebanese territory the moment it sets sail, vowing to retaliate as the…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator The Taliban celebrated Afghanistan’s Independence Day, declaring it had beaten “the arrogant of power of the world” in the United States. The group swept across Afghanistan this month, seizing control of Afghanistan following the collapse of the US-backed government. After spending $2 trillion in Afghanistan, loosing 2,000 American lives, and thousands of Afghanis, Afghanistan is back to square one. The Taliban is better armed with the weapons the US gave to the Afghan Army, and in control of more territory than they did when they lost the country to the US 20 years ago. …

The Spokesperson for the Tunisian Forum for Social and Economic Rights, Ramadan ben Omar, said that “Tunisia is gradually turning into a spearhead in the European security approach.” Ben Omar noted in a Facebook post, “As we are unaware, our sovereignty is being violated by UAVs powered by Israeli technology taking off from Malta and Italy, monitoring our coasts and regional waters and sending coordinates for the Tunisian navy so as to intercept migrant boats.” He added that “the interception orders are now issued by Frontex (European Border and Coast Guard Agency) and the navy would conduct the interception, using…

The joint Russian-European energy megaproject has entered the final stages of construction, and when complete will double the 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year capacity of the existing Nord Stream network. European gas futures for the month of September took a major dip Wednesday on erroneous reporting that Nord Stream 2 had come online and started pumping Russian gas to Europe. According to the ICE London stock exchange data, the drop began at around 15:00 Moscow time (13:00 GMT), and lasted for about two-and-a-half hours before stabilizing. September futures on the Dutch TTF Index fell from $575 per…

A mini-brain just grew a pair of mini-eyes… Yes, you read that right… Neuroscientist Jay Gopalakrishnan of University Hospital Düsseldorf in Germany and his colleagues revealed in a paper published in Cell Stem Cell that they grew optic cups on human-derived brain organoids in a lab. The results help in reaching a better understanding of the process of eye differentiation and development, as well as the diseases that affect the eyes. And why did these brains develop eye-like structures? To perceive light… yes, quite shocking. “Our work highlights the remarkable ability of brain organoids to generate primitive sensory structures that are light…

After Apple’s rollout of a new technology that scans images directly from within the users’ phones, responses were mixed, to say the least. Now the tech giant is taking a new controversial step which many have deemed as “very cheap”. Apple is appealing on a copyright case against security startup Corellium, which lets security researchers test a mobile device operating systems through the emulation of the device’s software. The startup’s goal is to allow researchers to look for security gaps and report them to Apple in exchange for cash bounties and other benefits. At times, the findings were shared with the government to…

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian told a press briefing on Wednesday that Beijing would “help the economic reconstruction of Afghanistan, within its capabilities.” Zhao Lijian added that China “has always pursued a friendly policy with the entire Afghan people, something which is not subject to change.” He stressed that the situation in Afghanistan has undergone “significant changes” recently, and after more than 40 years of war and instability, “the Afghan people yearn for peace.” He concluded by saying that “China hopes that all parties in Afghanistan can resolve their differences through dialogue and consultation, avoid new wars, prevent humanitarian…

A senior “Taliban” member told Reuters that Afghanistan may be ruled by a governing council after the Taliban took control of the country. Waheedullah Hashimi, who has access to the Movement’s decision-making, said in an interview for Reuters today, Wednesday, that the “Taliban” will also communicate with former pilots and soldiers from the Afghan armed forces to join its ranks. Hashimi also explained that “there will be no democratic system at all because it does not have any base in our country… We will not discuss what type of political system should we apply in Afghanistan because it is clear. It is sharia law…

Ahmad Masoud, the son of the late Afghan Leader, Ahmad Shah Masoud said: “We mourn our leader, Ahmad Shah Masoud, the leader who fought the Taliban until his final moments in life. It has been 24 years since we have been under the power of the Taliban, and it is because of them that the Afghan people were harmed,” adding that “we do not want a treaty or a deal with the Taliban, and we will fight them to the end.” News spread that Masoud had left the country, with Sputnik reporting that he boarded a military helicopter from Panjshir Province, north…