Author: Steven Sahiounie

The new coronavirus outbreak has now claimed the lives of 160,706 people across the world, and more than 2,328,600 others are infected, according to the latest data collected by Johns Hopkins University (JHU). Here are the latest on the coronavirus pandemic from around the world: Italy reports low daily rise in deaths In Italy, the country with the second highest deaths after the United States, the deaths from the respiratory illness rose by 482 on Saturday, the lowest daily increase since April 12. That brought the total death toll to 23,227. And the number of Italy’s new cases was stable…

At least three civilians have been killed and another sustained injuries when militiamen loyal to the country’s former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi shelled a residential neighborhood in Yemen’s southern province of Ta’izz despite a two-week ‘ceasefire’ declared by the Saudi-led coalition. Local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Arabic-language al-Masirah television network that the Saudi mercenaries fired projectiles at Wadi Hanash village in the At Ta’iziyah district of the province of province of Sunday afternoon. The sources added that two women and a child were killed whilst a man was injured when their house was struck in the shelling. Separately,…

In January 2020 members of the Iraqi parliament said the country was mulling the purchase of advanced Russian S-400 missile systems amid concerns that Washington might stop supporting Iraq and providing it with modern air defence armaments. The Parliamentary Security and Defence Committee of Iraq submitted a detailed study requesting the purchase of Russian long-range, surface-to-air S-400 missile defence systems for the consideration of the country’s caretaker prime minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi on 18 April. “The issue has already been discussed with relevant figures at the General Command of Armed Forces, and now awaits the prime minister’s agreement,” committee member Badr al-Ziyadi was…

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif will visit Damascus on Monday, where he will meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad to discuss the situation in the Arab country. “During this one-day trip, he [Zarif] will discuss with Syrian President Bashar Assad and [Syrian] Foreign Minister Walid Muallem bilateral relations, the development of the situation in the region, as well as political changes and the development of the situation ‘on the ground’ in the fight against terrorism,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said in a statement. This is Zarif’s first visit outside Iran in almost two months due to the coronavirus…

As of 19 April, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the UK stands at 114,221, with 15,464 deaths, according to the World Health Organisation. The UK has reported a rise in hospital coronavirus fatalities from 15,464 on Saturday to 16,060 on Sunday. According to the country’s health ministry, this has been the smallest increase in about two weeks. As of 19 April, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK stands at 114,221, with 15,464 fatalities, according to the World Health Organisation.

Earlier this week, the US said that 11 vessels from the IRGC Navy had been spotted at a dangerously close distance to US ships in the Gulf. Iran will give a ‘decisive’ response to any US provocation in the Gulf, the country’s Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy said, as quoted by Reuters. “We advise the Americans to follow international regulations and maritime protocols in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman and to refrain from any adventurism and false and fake stories,” the statement from the Guards navy said, as cited by the agency. “They should be assured that the…

The United States government and the Federal Reserve have taken unprecedented fiscal measures to keep the economy afloat and prevent a new Depression in recent weeks, introducing round after round of new spending and loan guarantees to the tune of trillions of dollars. The US’s national debt and American corporate debt have hit record levels thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, with fears growing that liabilities soon may reach a “tipping point” that the country may find impossible to dig out of, the Washington Post has reported, citing multiple economists and bank analysts. Congress and the Federal Reserve have moved to inject…

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has demanded the protection of Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails and detention facilities amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. The UN chief has also asked his Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nikolay Mladenov, to remain in contact with Israeli officials to ensure that due attention is paid. In a letter addressed to the Secretary-General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee Saeb Erekat on Friday, Guterres pointed to the reduction of prison overcrowding and restrictions on family visits in order to improve public health conditions. He also stressed the need…

An Israeli TV network claims that US intelligence agencies knew of an emerging coronavirus outbreak in China and gave Israel an advance warning in mid-November 2019, more than a month before clusters of infection in China started to be globally reported. US intelligence agencies had become aware of the outbreak as it spread early on in central China’s Wuhan City, Israel’s i24 news website cited a report by Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 as saying on Thursday. The agencies decided to warn US allies, such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries and Israel, after initially passing the information on…

The price for WTI oil has fallen below $19 per barrel for the first time since 31 January, 2002, trading data showed on Friday. As of 10.06 a.m. Moscow time (07:06 GMT), the price for WTI futures for delivery in May was falling by 4.28 percent to $19.02 per barrel, while mere minutes earlier it was down to $18.96 per barrel. At the same time, the price for Brent oil futures for delivery in June was up by 0.86 percent to $28.07 per barrel. On Sunday, OPEC+ signed a landmark deal that commits member nations to reduce crude oil production by 9.7…