Author: Steven Sahiounie

The United States has recorded more than 20,000 deaths since the coronavirus outbreak began, surpassing Italy as the country with the highest number of confirmed deaths, the latest updates show. According to the Johns Hopkins University count, so far 20,463 people have died across the United States compared with 19,468 in Italy. The university also says the US with 526,396 confirmed cases has the highest number, while Spain and Italy rank second and third with 163,027 and 152,271 cases respectively. Only on Friday, over 2,000 Americans died marking the single greatest death toll that any country has yet had. Public health…

The Yemeni Ministry of Education says the ongoing Saudi-led military campaign and all-out blockade against the war-ravaged Arab country have resulted in substantial losses to the education sector amounting to more than 12 billion dollars. The ministry announced in a statement on Sunday that the total cost of direct losses to the sector stands at around three trillion Yemeni riyals (over $12 billion), and at least 412 educational facilities have been completely destroyed as a result of Saudi-led airstrikes. The statement noted that the figure includes 110 schools in the northwestern province of Hajjah, and another 106 in the neighboring province of Sa’ada. The ministry…

The health ministry of the besieged Gaze Strip has warned of critical healthcare situation in the impoverished enclave as its main medical laboratory faces severe shortage of necessary supplies amid the coronavirus pandemic. In a press conference, Dr. Ashraf al-Qudra, the spokesman for the ministry, called on all concerned parties, donors and organizations to assist the Israeli besieged territory to curb the contagion by sending medical and lab needs plus respirators and intensive care beds, the Palestinian Information Center reported on Sunday. His distress call came just two days after he announced that the central laboratory in Gaza had run out…

President Hassan Rouhani says Iran has handled the novel coronavirus outbreak better than Europe and the United States, assuring that the country’s stocks of basic commodities are replenished better than ever. “We had a sanctions virus, to which the coronavirus was added, but you did not have the sanctions virus. You have one virus while we have two viruses,” he said Sunday, addressing Europe and the United States. “We did better than you in the fight against the coronavirus,” he said during a meeting of the National Headquarters for Managing and Fighting the Coronavirus. President Rouhani said in fighting the virus, the Iranian people resisted well, took…

In January, the United States and China signed the first phase of a trade deal, following months of tensions and tariff war between the two economic giants. However, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the strain on the global economy it has created, might have diverted their attention to some more pressing issues. China’s ambassador to the US, Cui Tiankai, said the first phase of the trade deal between the two states is still being implemented despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and expressed hope that it still will be done in the end. The comments were made during Cui’s interview with…

The day before, the prime minister’s office said that Boris Johnson was making “good progress” in his recovery from COVID-19 less than a week after he was admitted to St. Thomas’ Hospital in London. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been discharged from a London hospital as he continues to recover from coronavirus, his office stated on Sunday. “On the advice of his medical team, the PM will not be immediately returning to work. He wishes to thank everybody at St Thomas’ for the brilliant care he has received,” a spokesman said. Johnson will not be immediately returning to work but…

The nomination of Mustafa al-Kadhimi as prime minister has become Iraq’s third attempt in 10 weeks to break a political deadlock that has lasted months. He is set to prove that he is better-equipped than two previous nominees, and the caretaker prime minister, to navigate the relationship with Tehran and Washington and tackle social unrest. The Iraqi prime minister-designate, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, has vowed to defend his nation’s national security as the United States is deploying additional weapons to the country. Al-Kadhimi, Iraq’s intelligence chief since 2016, was chosen to form the government on Thursday. Iraq hasn’t had a full government…

The number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Russia spiked by 2,186 in 24 hours, with the authorities set to introduce electronic permits to control people’s mobility amid the social distancing and quarantine rules in place since President Vladimir Putin extended the nationwide paid holiday to April 30. Russian President Vladimir Putin misses direct communication with people amid the lockdown protocols and restrictions in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov was cited as saying on the “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin” show on Rossiya-1 TV channel. “I believe that he is missing this, the trips…

The war-torn nation of Libya, which descended into a foreign-backed civil war in 2011 after NATO warplanes helped rebels topple Muammar Gaddafi, has faced a major escalation of fighting in the past year as Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) attempts a final push to drive the Government of National Accord (GNA) out of Tripoli. The murky web of backdoor alliances, arms deals and geopolitical infighting for control of oil-rich Libya seems to have become even murkier amid reports that the United Arab Emirates has quietly purchased an advanced Israeli-made missile system for Marshal Haftar’s LNA forces. According to…

Saudi Arabia, a major strategic ally of the US, has been at the centre of an oil output cut dispute with Russia that unleashed a price war and sent already-volatile crude prices to their 18-year lows. American senators from oil-producing states reproached the Saudi ambassador in a heated phone call and threatened to rethink diplomatic relations with the kingdom, according to their accounts of the conversation. “We are going to fundamentally, not only reevaluate, but take actions that will start to undermine the long term relationship that many of us have supported,” Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan said, recounting what he…