Author: Steven Sahiounie

US Central Command (CENTCOM) releases a statement saying that personnel and material withdrawal from Afghanistan is “more than 95%” complete. CENTCOM: The US has handed more than seven facilities to the Afghan defense ministry. Yesterday, the US Central Command announced that the United States has completed more than 95% of the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan. CENTCOM’s statement announced that the drawdown is ongoing and that the military has officially handed more than seven facilities it was in control of to the Afghan Ministry of Defense. CENTCOM relayed in its statement that “The DoD has retrograded the equivalent of…

In the wake of Iran as an ‘existential threat’ to ‘Israel,’ Benny Gantz warns of the growing challenges facing ‘Israel,’ stresses that Iran is on top of the list of challenges. Israeli Minister of Security Benny Gantz says that “Through its cohesion, the current government has the ability to enhance security and develop the relations with our neighbors with whom our relations came to a halt during the last government, such as Jordan.” Gantz recently participated in an Israeli trade union conference in one of the Gaza envelope settlements, which was titled: “We Support the Residents of the Gaza Envelope.”…

The Cuban Foreign Minister accuses Washington of being directly involved in organizing the demonstrations and turmoil Cuba is experiencing, and holds it responsible for the events. Cuban FM Bruno Rodriguez accused the US of being directly involved in organizing the demonstrations and turmoil Cuba has been experiencing since last Sunday. Rodriguez emphasized that Washington bears great responsibility for the events for the reason that some demonstrators were externally funded and led, traveled in diplomatic vehicles, and met with US diplomats, as he said. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel accused the United States of following a policy of “economic asphyxiation” to rouse…

US State Department spokesman Ned Price says that the United States is engaging in “indirect but active” talks with Iran to secure releasing American prisoners. The United States has been engaging in “indirect but active” discussions to secure the release of American detainees in Iran as the State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Tuesday, adding that Washington was dealing with those talks independently from the nuclear talks. Earlier, Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabii said Tehran was holding talks on prisoner exchanges with the United States in order to secure the release of Iranians held in US prisons and other…

More than 12,000 Afghan families have fled their homes in the northern province of Kunduz as battle continues between the Taliban militant group and government forces to control the southern fringes of the provincial capital city, also called Kunduz, the acting governor says. With gunfire that could be heard in the background, video footage showed on Monday Afghan forces on the battlefield on the outskirts of the city. The displaced families living in tents in Kunduz city said they are suffering from severe lack of food and other relief. “Our belongings are all burned, and we have nothing left,” said…

Israel has blocked the delivery of humanitarian aid sent by the Red Crescent to the homeless Palestinian villagers in Jordan Valley. The Palestinian Information Center reported on Monday that a day before, Israeli forces denied the Red Crescent truck passage into the Khirbet Humsa al-Fuqa hamlet, where the home of the Palestinians had been demolished recently. In the fertile Jordan Valley, which makes up about 30 percent of area in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian residents outnumber Israeli settlers to a great extent. Israel considers the region crucial to its ‘security’ and seeks to annex it in open defiance of international law.…

Russia’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna says Iran’s plan to enrich uranium metal is a direct outcome of the United States’ maximum pressure campaign against the country. “In a first occasion for non-nuclear countries, Iran began enriching uranium to 60%. And now it’s about to start producing metal uranium enriched to 20%. I don’t think anyone in the US is happy about that, but that’s the direct consequence of the maximum pressure policy,” Mikhail Ulyanov said in an interview with Russian newspaper Kommersant on Sunday. Ulyanov expressed hope that the Americans can learn from their past mistakes, which…

The President of Yemen’s SPC condemns Washington’s continued seizing fuel oil ships for Al-Hudaydah power plants; Mohammad Ali Al-Houthi stresses that the Yemeni Rial’s devaluation is due to Saudi coalition forces printing the currency. President of the Supreme Political Council in Yemen, Mahdi al-Mashat The President of the Supreme Political Council (SPC) in Yemen, Mahdi Al-Mashat, stressed that the suffering of citizens of Al-Hudaydah province is increasing as the United States continues to impound fuel oil meant for the province’s power plant. He noted that this measure reflects “Washington’s disregard of all humanitarian values and international laws,” calling on the…

The European Union extends its economic sanctions on Russia for six months until January 31, 2022, accusing Russia of destabilizing Ukraine. The sanctions got extended until January 31, 2022 The Foreign Ministers of the Member States of the European Union issued on Monday a formal decision to extend the economic sanctions against Russia for six months, until January 31, 2022. These economic sanctions, imposed by the European Union 7 years ago, target the financial, energy, and defense sectors in Russia and a number of Russian banks and companies. It was a political decision to extend the sanctions against Russia during…

Despite US sanctions and obstructions, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is 98% done. The Nord Stream 2 pipeline is expected to be done in August Matthias Warnig, Executive Director of Nord Stream 2 AG, the contracting company responsible for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that is set to transfer gas from Russia to Europe, predicted that the project should be done by late August. In a statement to German Handelsblatt on Sunday, he stated that 98% of the work is done. The Nord Stream 2 project oversees the building of a 55 billion cubic meter-per-year pipeline from the Russian coast…