Author: Steven Sahiounie

Several US senators sold off significant amounts in stocks shortly before financial markets plunged because of the coronavirus pandemic. The senators were briefed about the spread of coronavirus ahead of their sales. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee and is a member of the Senate Health Committee, dumped somewhere between $598,000 and $1.62 million in stocks in February, according to publicly available financial disclosure reports. Just days before starting to sell his stocks on Feb. 4, Burr penned a Fox News op-ed with Sen. Lamar Alexander, writing that the country was “better prepared than ever before…

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia and Saudi Arabia are not waging any wars over oil prices. He is certain that other states should not interfere in the partnership between the two countries. “There are no price wars between Russia and Saudi Arabia. There is a very unfavorable pricing environment for many countries,” he told reporters. According to him, Russia and Saudi Arabia have “good relations, a partnership.” “We do not think that anyone should intervene in these relations,” Peskov added. On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said that he was about to join in a discussion of…

Novosibirsk’s Vector Institute, which has developed a prototype of the coronavirus vaccine, will test it first on the most sensitive lab animals – lower primates and ferrets, Vector Institute Deputy Chairwoman on Research Yelena Gavrilova said on TV Friday. Earlier reports indicated that Vector has developed a prototype coronavirus vaccine. Now, it will be tested on the sensitive lab animals. It would allow determining the most effective dosage, frequency and administration method of the vaccine, TASS reports. “Currently, we have both vaccines based on known recombinant viruses and synthetic vaccine, developed on six separate technological platforms. We have already began…

Russia’s Republic of Ingushetia has declared a high alert regime to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which means that the regime is now active across the entire Russian territory, in all the 85 regions. “The high alert regime has been declared on the territory of the republic, following an order by the head of the region, Mahmud-Ali Kalimatov”, Kalimatov’s press service said on Friday. Meanwhile, seven coronavirus patients have recovered in the past 24 hours to a total of 12 since the start of the monitoring period, while 27,487 people remain under medical monitoring for potential symptoms of the infection…

Last week, the US military confirmed that they had staged “defensive precision strikes” on weapons storage facilities of the Iraqi Shia paramilitary group Kataib Hezbollah in retaliation for the group’s previous attack on the Camp Taji military base in Iraq that killed at least two American servicemen. NBC News has cited several unnamed US sources as saying on Thursday that the coronavirus pandemic prompted President Donald Trump last week to refrain from ordering a more aggressive response to an Iraqi paramilitary group’s recent attack on American troops in Iraq. The US sees Kataib Hezbollah as an Iranian proxy. According to the sources,…

The Russian Armed Forces have given the militants in Idlib until the end of March to withdraw from all areas around the M-4 Highway (Aleppo-Latakia Highway), Syrian military media reported on Tuesday. According to the reports, all militants group, including the Turkish-backed forces, must withdraw from the M-4 Highway and its surroundings. If the militant forces do not withdraw from the M-4 Highway, the Syrian Arab Army, alongside the Russian military, will resume their offensive in the Idlib Governorate. Given the recent build up of Syrian Army troops in southern Idlib, it appears that they will be focusing on the…

A military base equivalent to the Hmeimim Airbase in northeastern Syria has been revealed by satellite images, the Russian aviation publication Avia.Pro reported. “Russia has begun to establish in Syria its largest new military air base, which is said to be equipped no less than the Hmeimim Airport, and this has already been confirmed by satellite imagery,” Avia.Pro reported after posting a picture of the Qamishli Airport. According to Avia.Pro, the Russian military is converting the Qamishli Airport in northeastern Syria as their main installation in that part of the country. “According to information sources, the latest Russian military airbase in the…

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has sent reinforcements to the Idlib countryside this week amid concerns over the jihadist refusal to withdraw from the M-4 Highway (Aleppo-Latakia Highway). Reinforcements from the neighboring Hama, Latakia, and Aleppo governorates reportedly poured into the eastern and southern countrysides of Idlib on Tuesday and Wednesday, as the military swelled their numbers near the front-lines. According to a military source in the Idlib Governorate, the Syrian Arab Army is preparing to resume their offensive against the jihadist rebels, but will await final approval from their Russian partners, who are currently negotiating with Turkey. Turkey was…

The US assassinated Qasem Soleimani, long-time commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force military unit, in January, prompting Iran to launch a massed rocket strike on a pair of US bases in Iraq, and leading Iraq-based militias to carry out sporadic strikes on American bases and the US Embassy Green Zone in Baghdad. Iran will continue to respond to the January 3 assassination of Commander Soleimani, President Hassan Rouhani has warned, one day after a coalition base holding NATO troops came under rocket fire. “The Americans assassinated our great commander. We have responded to that terrorist act and will respond to…

Turkey has reported the first lethal case in the country caused by novel coronavirus, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca told a news conference in Ankara. “Seven days ago I have reported the first novel coronavirus case in the country,” Koca said. “Today I have to report sad news because one of the infected patients died. He was 89 years old.” “The number of registered [novel coronavirus] cases have increased by 51 and currently totals 98,” the Turkish health minister continued, TASS reports. Koca stated that the man, who died from the virus, was infected by his “Chinese colleague.”