Author: Steven Sahiounie

The Tripoli-based Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) welcomed the Russian-Turkish statement on the situation in Libya. “The Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord followed the meeting between presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin … and the published statement. The Presidential Council is highly assessing and welcomes the efforts of friendly countries, aimed at looking for the solution of the crisis,” the GNA said on late Wednesday in a statement, published on the Facebook page. On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on all parties to the conflict in Libya to cease fire…

Two US military bases in Iraq were attacked early on 8 January with Iranian missiles in an act of retaliation for Washington’s operation that killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani on 3 January in Baghdad. In his address to the nation, US President Donald Trump said that no US military personnel were hurt in the Iranian missile attack on its bases in Iraq on 8 January, while the bases themselves sustained “minimal” damage. He noted that this was due to precautions that were taken, the “dispersal of forces”, and an early warning system. The POTUS further announced that the US would impose “new powerful…

The CNN report about “government destroying Uygur cemetery” was apparently biased and partial, the Global Times found, after visiting the “cemetery” mentioned by the CNN. CNN reported last Thursday that “more than 100 Uygur graveyards were demolished by Chinese authorities,” showing satellite images of the Sultanim “cemetery” and jumping to the conclusion that China has been destroying traditional Uygur cemeteries as part of a “campaign to control Islamic beliefs and Muslim minority groups within its border.” The Global Times reporters on Monday visited the Sultanim “cemetery” in Hotan, Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and interviewed local residents and officials to reveal the true…

Gold prices hit near seven-year highs on Wednesday before declining to stay above the key $1,500 support as President Donald Trump refrained from escalating the United States’ conflict with Iran after Tehran launched missile attacks on US-Iraqi airbases without killing anyone. Gold futures for February delivery on New York’s COMEX was down $11.35, or 0.7 percent, at $1,562.95 per ounce by 1:25 PM ET (18:25 GMT). They earlier hit $1,612.95, the highest since March 2013. The dollar, a contrarian trade to gold, rose on Wednesday as gold prices fell. The US Dollar Index, which pits against the greenback against a basket…

Two loud blasts followed by sirens were heard in the Iraqi capital on Wednesday night, Reuters reported, citing witnesses. According to Al-Mayadeen, two rockets fell in the Green Zone in central Baghdad, where government buildings and diplomatic facilities are situated. A Sputnik security source has confirmed that two rockets fell in Baghdad’s Green Zone. “Two rockets fell in the Green Zone in the centre of Baghdad, there is no information on any damage yet,” the source said. Later, the country’s security services said that no people were injured. “Two Katyusha rockets fell in the Green Zone, no people were injured,” the security services’ press service…

The LNA announced that the city of Sirte is now under its full control. However, the LNA is not going to develop the advance on the pro-GNA city of Misrata right now. Most likely, the LNA leadership is planning to negotiate a kind of a deal with the Misrata militia leadership. units of the Libyan National Army (LNA) took control of the Gardabiya Airbase near the city of Sirte and entered Sirte itself. According to reports from the ground, a part of Sirte(Misrata) militia loyal to the Government of National Accord (GNA) defected to the LNA. The rest of them…

Turkey is paying higher salaries to militants who go and fight in Libya, Foreign Policy Research Institute fellow Elizabeth Tsurkov said. According to her, fighters from the Turkish-backed Syrian militant groups were paid approximately $50 a month in Syria, but the rumored salary in Libya was $1,500 per month. In addition, fighters are being promised Turkish citizenship after 6 months of deployment in Libya. Reportedly 3 Turkish-backed militants died fighting against the Libyan National Army (LNA), and there is even a debate on how to report their deaths, and even if to report them at all. Meanwhile, there was a…

Iran is considering “13 revenge scenarios,” the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani said on January 7th, Fars News Agency reported. The initial report has since been removed from the website, it could be found on this dead link. Other media, such as Hezbollah affiliated al-Manar, however, republished the story. Ali Shamkhani was quoted as having said the following: “Iran has 13 scenarios to respond to America, in retaliation for the blood of the martyr leader Qassem Soleimani, the weakest of which will be a historical nightmare for America.” He spoke of the scenarios in a press statement: “We…

By: Nebojsa Malic While protests in India and Hong Kong may look similar at first glance, Western reactions to them reveal fundamental differences. Dig deeper, and we hit the bedrock of hypocrisy about “human rights” and “democracy.” There are superficial similarities between the protests that have rocked the Chinese autonomous territory of Hong Kong since May, and the protests around India for the past several weeks. Both ostensibly started due to a proposed law; extradition to the mainland in the case of Hong Kong, a citizenship amendment in the case of India. In both cases, protesters have set public property…

The US says that Iranian General Qassem Soleimani was plotting “imminent and sinister” attacks against its diplomats and military personnel. But when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was pressed for evidence of this, he gave none. Soleimani, commander of the Iranian military’s Quds Force, was assassinated in a drone strike in Baghdad, Iraq, on Friday. Before the strike, President Donald Trump implicated Iran in a fatal rocket attack on an American base in Iraq in December, and in the storming of the American embassy in Baghdad by protesters last week. Afterwards, he said that Soleimani was killed to prevent “imminent and…