Author: Steven Sahiounie

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said on Wednesday that the Egyptian government will extend a nationwide night-time curfew by 15 days until April 23 to counter the spread of the coronavirus. Airports will stay closed until the end of the month, he said in a televised news conference, adding that the curfew would now start one hour later at 8pm local time (1800 GMT) each evening. The government also extended the closure of schools and universities, while malls, cafes and shops will close at night and on weekends. Many in the country of 100 million people live in fertile rural areas…

Russian President Vladimir Putin is delivering opening remarks at the beginning of a meeting with regional heads held via a videolink. The meeting will concern the response to measures to battle COVID-19. Russian medical staff will receive an additional 10 billion rubles in funding amid the coronavirus pandemic in Russia, President Putin said on Wednesday in his address to regional heads broadcast by state television. “We decided on the additional payments to doctors, nurses, and medical personnel due to the special working conditions and increased workload. Funds from the federal budget for these purposes – more than 10 billion rubles -…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator The story-line of this new movie seems to be from a “Hollywood” script: terrorists, battle scenes, and prison torture.  However, it is based on a true story unfolding in Libya.  “Shugaley” tells the story of a Russian sociologist, and his translator, who were captured in May 2019 by terrorists in Libya on the orders of the Government of National Accord (GNA).   Russian sociologist Maxim Shugaley, and his Arab translator Samer Sweifan, were in Libya carrying out sociological research for “The Foundation for the Protection of Traditional Values”, a Russian think-tank. While in Libya,…

Italy is the country hit third hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic, with Lombardy being one of the main hotbeds of the disease in the nation. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Italy has jumped by 3,599 to 132,547, while the death toll has risen by 636 to 16,523 in the past 24 hours. “At the moment, there are 93,187 persons currently infected with the disease, which means an increase of 1,941 compared to yesterday. … Unfortunately, we have registered 636 new deaths”, Angelo Borrelli, the head of Italy’s Civil Protection Department, said at a press conference. The figures released…

Last week, US President Donald Trump ordered to deploy 1,000 military personnel, consisting mostly of doctors, nurses, and healthcare specialists to New York City amid the novel coronavirus outbreak. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo stated on Monday that the state’s healthcare system “is at maximum capacity today,” adding that pressure on hospitals is “unsustainable at this rate.” The statement comes as the death toll in the state has reached 4,758. On Saturday, the state of New York recorded its largest daily increase in the number of new COVID-19 cases as 10,841 positive tests were reported on Saturday, with the death toll…

The Turkish-backed militants in northeastern Syria were involved in a deadly firefight with one another on Sunday, resulting in several dead and wounded, Kurdistan 24 reported. According to the publication, at least eight Turkish-backed militants were killed during the firefight, with many more reportedly wounded as a result of the violence in the Al-Hasakah Governorate town of Ras Al-‘Ain. “The clashes lasted for hours in the main street of the town and in a neighborhood near the Turkish border between two armed groups upon a conflict for sharing shops and stores left by their owners who fled the town after the Turkish…

The U.S. military is testing the capabilities of the Russian military’s S-400 air defense system at the Hmeimim Airbase in western Syria, the Russian publication Avia.Pro reported on Monday. Using its military aircraft, the U.S. is attempting to pick up on the S-400’s frequencies around the Hmeimim Airbase, which is located in Syria’s Latakia Governorate, Avia.Pro said. “Specialists were able to find out that the pairing of American military aircraft and drones off the coast of Crimea and the Russian military air base Hmeimim in Syria is associated with scanning the frequencies of Russian S-400 systems, having gained control over which the…

An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ patrol boat recently captured up-close footage of a U.S. naval ship entering the Strait of Hormuz in the Arabian Sea. In the short video, the IRGC personnel are filming the U.S.S. Bataan as it enters the Strait of Hormuz near Iran’s territorial waters. While the U.S. naval vessel continues on its path, the IRGC ship steadily sails by the American ship before the video finally cuts out. The date of this incident was not stated; however, it was believed to have taken place a few weeks ago. Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have been…

Russian military doctors have begun providing 24-hour care at a field hospital in the Italian city of Bergamo for patients that have tested positive for COVID-19, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Monday. “On Monday, April 6, Russian military doctors together with their Italian colleagues began providing round-the-clock care and treatment at a field hospital in the city of Bergamo for patients that have contracted the coronavirus disease”, the statement read. The ministry added that eight teams of Russian medical professionals will provide general and intensive care treatment for patients in both a critical and stable condition. All the…

the Saudi-leadership blamed Russia for the instability on the energy market accusing it of launching an oil war. Saudi Arabia’s official SPA news agency reported the following (source): The Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs His Highness Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said that a statement attributed by media to President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation, claimed that one of the reasons for the decline in oil prices was the Kingdom’s withdrawal from the deal of OPEC + and that the kingdom was planning to get rid of shale oil producers.The Minister affirmed that what was mentioned is fully…