Author: Steven Sahiounie

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…

On the evening of April 9th, the Government of National Accord’s air force, and very likely with assistance from Turkey, carried out heavy drone strikes on Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) positions in Tarhuna. Tarhuna is located southeast of Tripoli. Around the same time LNA air defense reportedly shot down an UAV at Tenai near Bani Walid. A tweet reported that an Italian helicopter landed on the shore near Tripoli, in a tweet that has since been deleted. However, a photograph remains of the purported helicopter about to land. The GNA said that the situation in Tripoli…

A newly-established Iraqi armed group identifying itself as Qabdat al-Hudaa (QH) has threatened the American and British ambassadors in the capital, Baghdad. In a statement released on April 9, the mysterious group called on both ambassadors to depart the country within 48 hours, vowing to kill them “According to information we received, the American forces of evil are planning to carry out an attack against the blessed Islamic resistance factions and the Iraqi people, so we tell them that out eyes are monitoring you in everywhere, and to the American and British ambassadors in Baghdad [we say] if you don’t…

Hezbollah, a Lebanese political party and militant group, has played a key role in Syria’s fight against a broad collection of terrorist groups in recent years. At the same time, the group is designated as a terrorist organization by Israel and its US and European allies. The Israeli military has published a video which it says shows a meeting between a senior Syrian military commander and Hezbollah militia somewhere in Syria, warning that Tel Aviv “won’t allow” the militia “to entrench itself militarily” in the Arab Republic. “Look closely. See the man with white hair? That’s the head of the…

The first confirmed Covid-19 case has been recorded in war-torn Yemen as the devastated nation braces for the pandemic to hit. A local health official has warned that up to 90 percent of the population could become infected. The first case of the disease was recorded in the large eastern Hadhramaut Province, the country’s emergency committee to combat Covid-19 announced on Friday. The patient is in stable condition and is receiving treatment, the officials said. Yemen has been devastated by a bloody civil war, which began after the Houthi rebel movement toppled President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who went into exile…

Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi says Iran is worried about the lives of nearly 6,000 Palestinian prisoners kept in Israeli jails as well as the people of the Gaza Strip who are living in the “world’s biggest prison” amid the coronavirus outbreak. “Today, nearly 5,800 Palestinian men and women are imprisoned by the Zionists, and we are worried about their lives, especially given the fact that over 200 women and children are jailed undersuch worrying situation,” Raisi said. Speaking in a phone conversation with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, Raisi said the release of Palestinian inmates innocently jailed by the Zionist regime is more…