Author: Steven Sahiounie

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a decree on Friday postponing all events related to science, culture and the arts, as the country seeks to contain a surge in coronavirus cases. Turkey’s Covid-19 death toll has reached four, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Thursday. The number of confirmed cases in the country has surged since the first case was announced last week, reaching 359 on Thursday. The cases have roughly doubled every day since Sunday, Reuters reports. Erdogan’s decree, published in the Official Gazette on Friday, said all meetings and activities, indoors or outdoors, related to science, culture, art…

Iraqi Air Force (IQAF) warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes on ISIS hideouts in Hamrin Mountains in northern Iraq. According to the Iraqi military’s Joint Operations Command, many hideouts were destroyed in the airstrikes, which also eliminated “dozens” of ISIS terrorists. “The operation was carried out with Iraqi planning by the Joint Operations Command and the Army Chief of Staff and with the preparations of Iraqi technicians from the Air Force Command, after the withdrawal of the international [U.S.-led] coalition,” Yehia al-Rasool, a spokesman for the Iraqi military, said. The Iraqi military shared a video showing some of the…

On March 22, the Turkish military begin working to establish two “observation posts” near the city of Jisr al-Shughur in the northwestern part of Syria’s Greater Idlib. According to opposition activists, the pots will be established on the hilltops of Khattab and Msheirfeh, which overlook the M4 highway. The strategic highway, which links the coastal city of Lattakia with Aleppo city, also runs right through Jisr al-Shughur. Earlier, opposition sources, including the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), reported that several Turkish military convoys have entered Greater Idlib. Jisr al-Shughur and its vicinity are under the control of al-Qaeda-affiliated…

Yemeni air defense units have thwarted a Saudi airstrike against strategic and residential areas in the central province of Ma’rib, says the spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces Brigadier General Yahya Saree. Saree said in a post published on his official Twitter page on Sunday that a squadron of Saudi-led warplanes sought to bombard areas in Sirwah district at 10:03 p.m. local time (1903 GMT) the previous day, when the domestically built, long-range Fater-1 (Innovator-1) surface-to-air missile defense system intercepted the jets and forced them off Yemeni airspace. The high-ranking Yemeni military official said the aircraft left the area without carrying out…

The Lebanese army on Sunday, March 22, deployed helicopters to fly over cities, blasting out messages to urge people to stay at home. Lebanon has been on lockdown over the coronavirus epidemic since March 15. Army handout video shows a helicopter flying over Beirut, announcing: “Dear citizens, for your safety, the army command asks you to stay in your homes and not to leave except for extreme necessities and to avoid gatherings.” As of Sunday, Lebanon confirmed 230 cases of coronavirus and four deaths. The country’s borders, ports, and airports have been shut until March 29 and residents are being obliged…

A top leader of the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement has asked Saudi Arabia’s King Salman to order the immediate release of dozens of Palestinians, who are languishing in jails across the ultra-conservative kingdom, citing the threat posed by the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the highly contagious new coronavirus. Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Hamas political bureau, in a letter addressed to the Saudi monarch pleaded with him to make a quick decision and order the freedom of Palestinian detainees in Saudi prisons. “In light of the pandemic of the novel coronavirus that has spread across the globe, due to fears for the lives of…

A recently released video shows how the Iranian Army’s Air Defense Force warns off an intruding F-18 fighter jet several times in southern Iran, forcing it to leave the country’s airspace immediately. The video, released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), dates back to the first day of the Iranian New Year (started on March 20) and shows Iranian Army’s Air Defense Force warning the intruding fighter jet, whose nationality has not been revealed, to get away from the country’s border after it approached the Iranian airspace on Friday, Tasnim news agency reported. The Iranian forces warned the fighter jet that…

Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov has said the recent breakup of the OPEC+ oil output cut agreement and subsequent collapse in oil prices was the “Arab partners’ initiative”. “Russia’s position has never been to collapse oil prices. This is our Arab partners’ initiative. Actually, the prime minister spoke about this. I can confirm this since I participated in the meeting where the directives were drawn up”, Belousov told the broadcaster Rossiya 1. According to Belousov, Russia’s basic idea was to maintain the OPEC+ agreement. “At least for a quarter with a possible extension for a year. But the Arab partners behaved…

by Tim Korso So far, top US politicians and congresspeople have managed to avoid contracting the coronavirus with President Trump and Vice President recently announcing that they had tested negative for the infection. The US military has started preparations for implementing a set of secret contingency plans that can be set in motion if the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak starts endangering the integrity of the American government and the ability of local authorities to uphold order, Newsweek reported citing documents obtained and accounts of anonymous military sources. According to the media, in the worst-case scenario, the US military might actually start running the…

An airstrike in Afghanistan’s northern province of Kunduz killed 11 members of one family, eyewitnesses told Sputnik on Sunday. According to the eyewitnesses, an airstrike hit the Yakatot area of ​​Kunduz Imam Sahib district last night and killed children and women among others. Afghan forces have not commented on the incident so far. In addition, there was a severe fight in the are as a result of Taliban* attacks on security checkpoints in Kunduz’s districts of Dasht-e-Archi, Khan Abad and Imam Sahib last night, Kunduz police spokesman Hajarullah Akbari told Sputnik. “During the clashes, 24 armed Taliban were killed and 19 others…