Author: Steven Sahiounie

Protesters in Iraq’s southern province of Maysan on Tuesday blocked the local oil firm, a technological institute and the office of the state television network al-Iraqiya, Shafaq news agency reported, citing activists. Demonstrators also attempted to shut down the al-Iraqiya office in Dhi Qar province, where protests have continued for more than a week. The security forces formed a cordon to stop the protesters. The people are reportedly angry at the Iraqi state channel’s coverage of the protests in Baghdad and Dhi Qar. On Monday, Anadolu Agency quoted sources as saying that the protesters had closed the roads leading to…

At least two civilians have lost their lives when Turkish military forces fired live rounds at a group of people, who were taking part in a protest against their presence in northern Syria following a cross-border incursion by Turkish army troops and their allied militants against members of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Turkish troops, conducting a joint patrol near the mainly Kurdish town of Kobani (officially known as Ayn al-Arab), opened fire at local residents on Tuesday afternoon as the latter threw stones and shoes at them in an expression of boiling…

Thousands of people have held yet another ant-government rally in Lebanon against alleged corruption. On Tuesday, banks and schools were closed in Lebanon as thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in the capital, Beirut, and some other cities and towns and attempted to prevent employees from clocking in at state institutions. In the town of Aley, east of Beirut, the southern city of Tyre, and the eastern town of Baalbek, protesters held sit-ins outside and inside the offices of the state telecommunications provider. Since October 17, people have been holding protest rallies in Beirut and other cities to express…

By Robert Inlakesh Israel has re-initiated its targeted assassination strategy for killing Palestinian leaders and perceived combatants, a move which was calculated to stir up regional tensions and potentially initiate a fourth large scale war with the Gaza Strip. In the Early hours of Tuesday morning, Israel launched unprovoked airstrikes against the North of the Gaza Strip killing the senior commander of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Baha Abu al-Ata (43 years old). The strike also killed the PIJ commander’s wife Asma Mohammed (39 years old) and a young man named Mohammed Atiyah (20 years old), injuring several others. The later…

BY KHALED ISKEF Monday afternoon, 7 civilians were killed and 70 others were injured when three car bombs exploded in the populated city of Qamishli in Hasakah countryside in northeastern Syria. Local sources said that the blasts began at 3 p.m. by a car bomb exploded at the intersection of “Al-Wehdah” and “Al-Ra’es” streets, followed immediately by a second car bomb explosion near a cafe in the city in “Al-Ra’es” street within short distance from the site of the first explosion. The second explosion coincided with the explosion of a third car bomb next to the restaurant “Abu Dalil” in “Al-Wehdah”…

By Andrew Korybko Bolivian President Evo Morales‘ decision to abide by the “recommendation” of the US-backed OAS that his country hold another election represents serious backtracking on his pro-sovereignty stance under heavy Hybrid War pressure following the mutiny of several police forces across the nation and the military’s refusal to restore law and order amidst several weeks of rioting. Bolivian President Evo Morales stayed true to his word that he’d abide by the “recommendation” of the US-backed OAS following the conclusion of their audit on last month’s election by calling for another vote in the coming future. The organization alleged that it was “statistically…

By Stephen Lendman Last month, Russia’s Foreign Ministry claimed progress was made toward “promoting (a) political settlement in conformity with the resolutions of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi and United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254.” In mid-September, Sergey Lavrov said “(t)he war in Syria has really come to an end. The country is gradually returning to a normal, peaceful life,” adding:“Some hotspots of tensions remain in the territories that are not controlled by the Syrian government, such as Idlib and the eastern bank of the Euphrates.” Around the same time, Putin and Netanyahu met in Moscow. Commenting on what was discussed,…

Saudi authorities have forcibly arrested two dissidents, as a brutal crackdown led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman against clerics, intellectuals and human rights campaigners widens in the ultra-conservative kingdom. The Prisoners of Conscience, an independent non-governmental organization advocating human rights in Saudi Arabia, announced in a post on its official Twitter page on Monday that attorney Dr. Hassan al-Amri and activist Hassan al-Kinani had fallen prey to state-directed and extra-territorial kidnapping, while spending time in Geneva, Switzerland. It added that Kinani was abducted by suspected Saudi agents in March 2019, and he has not been heard of ever since while Amri…

Turkey has deported two captured Western members of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group despite unwillingness of the countries of origin. Turkish Interior Ministry spokesman Ismail Catakli said one American and one German member of the terrorist group were sent back on Monday. “Efforts to identify the nationalities of foreign fighters captured in Syria have been completed, with their interrogations 90% finished and the relevant countries notified,” Catakli was cited as saying by the state-run Anadolu news agency. “The process of repatriating foreign fighters to their countries will continue with determination.” Turkish sources say about two dozen other members to be…

The media center for the Syrian Democratic Forces said this week that since the ceasefire was declared on October 17, ground and air attacks on areas of northern and eastern Syria have resulted in the death of a large number of their fighters. According to the media center, the Turkish Army and their allied militants have killed 182 SDF fighters, while wounding another 243 others. In addition to the high death toll, the SDF said the Turkish-backed forces have launched lat least 190 attacks against their troops in northern and eastern Syria. The Turkish-backed Syrian National Army, a coalition of…