Author: Steven Sahiounie

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…

The Russian military police and the Turkish border service have started their fourth joint patrol in a new area in Syria’s north, at the border with Turkey, and the route will make around 80 kilometers (49 miles), the Russian Defence Ministry said on Monday. “The fourth joint patrol of the Russian military police and the Turkish border service started on November 11 its operation in a new border region, located 70 kilometers to the west of the Qamishliya settlement,” the Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement. The patrol will first head westward and then eastward along the border, and…

Works on the second stage of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant (NPP) officially kicked off in the country as concrete was poured for a new reactor base on Sunday. “Nuclear power provides reliable electricity…and each power plant saves us 11 million barrels of oil or $660 million per year,” said Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. “In a long term vision until 2027-2028, when these projects are finished, we will have 3,000 MW [megawatts] of nuclear plant-generated electricity,” he added. The new reactor is one of two officially under construction since 2017 and is located about 750…

The United States has “hijacked” the anti-government protests in Iraq to destabilize the country for defying Washington’s demands, an American scholar says. “The United States occupying Iraq was one of the greatest war crimes of the past century and the occupiers are now calling for immediate new elections,” said Kevin Barrett, an author, journalist and radio host with a Ph.D. in Islamic and Arabic Studies. “When the occupier says it’s time for the current government to step down on the basis of these protests, that’s a sign that the protest has been hijacked and weaponized by the occupation,” Barrett told…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has reiterated that attempts made by the United States to control Syria’s oil fields are “illegal” and amount to “robbery,” stressing that such attempts only hinder a desperately-needed political settlement there. The Russian top diplomat made the remarks during a press conference with his Armenian counterpart Zohrab Mnatsakanyan in the capital Yerevan on Monday. He said Syria’s oil fields and facilities totally belong to the Arab nation. “Of course, its attempt to put oil fields there under control is illegal. In fact, it’s tantamount to robbery,” Russia’s TASS news agency quoted Lavrov as saying, referring to what Washington “has…

At least seven Syrian civilians have been killed and 70 others wounded as a result of multiple bomb attacks in the northeastern province of Hasakah. The causalities took place on Monday when three explosives-laden cars went off almost consecutively in the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli, with two of them having been detonated in a street and the third near a hotel in the city center, according to AFP. The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the report and said the attacks also caused damage to public and private properties including shops and cars. Photos from the scene showed charred cars and…