Author: Steven Sahiounie

UK lawmakers have rejected Boris Johnson’s “programme motion” in a major blow to the PM’s plans to fast-track his Brexit withdrawal agreement through all stages of the House of Commons by Thursday. UK MPs passed Johnson’s WAB at the second reading stage in the House of Commons on Tuesday evening by 329 votes to 299. The UK government’s joy at that result, however, was short lived, as crucial program motion was voted down with 308 for and 322 votes against minutes later. Speaking after the second vote, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Johnson was the “author of his own misfortune.” “Work with us…

Heads of African countries have flocked to Russia for a first of its kind summit, where Moscow will be offering business ties and security arrangements alternative to ‘colonial-style’ relations with the West. Over the past decade, the African continent has become a battleground for geostrategic competition involving China, the US, and the EU, which compete with each for military access, economic superiority, and soft power supremacy. Countries like India, South Korea, and Gulf monarchies have interests in Africa too. So does Russia, which has the advantage of old ties in the region and touts itself as an ideology-free pragmatic partner…

US military forces have reportedly transferred more than 1,500 female members of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group from Syria to neighboring Iraq in the wake of a ground offensive by Turkish troops and their allied militants against Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria. Syria’s official news agency SANA reported that the US troops have moved the Daesh women from al-Hol refugee camp, which lies in Syria’s northeastern province of al-Hasakah and close to the Syria-Iraq border, The report came only a few days after SANA reported that US forces had transferred 230 foreign Daesh terrorists from al-Malikiyah prison to a detention…

Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in the Russian city of Sochi to discuss an array of issues, with the situation in Syria and the Turkish military operation there expected to be the main topic of their conversation. Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that foreign forces that are currently deployed in Syria unlawfully must leave its territory. He added that Turkey shares this vision, as well as that the idea that the Arab Republic’s integrity must be preserved. Separately, he advocated that the Syrian government and Kurdish forces need to hold broad talks in order to take into…

by Tim Korso Amid an ongoing withdrawal of US troops, Defence Secretary Mark Esper announced that some will not be transferred to Iraq, as was expected, but will instead stay to “guard” Syrian oil fields from being seized by the remnants of Daesh*. US President Donald Trump is mulling the possibility of “keeping” the oil as he talked about Syria’s oilfields, which were recently secured by US troops. He further indicated that American business may be employed to do that. “I always said if you’re going in, keep the oil […] maybe get one of our big oil companies in to…

Russian authorities say they have missed a target for curbing daily production of oil set by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied producers, a grouping known as OPEC+, citing preparations for winter months as a main reason. Russian news agencies said on Sunday that output in September stood at 11.25 million barrels per day (bpd), down from 11.29 million bpd reported in August but above the target defined by OPEC+ which requires Moscow to decrease production by 228,000 bpd from an October 2018 baseline. Authorities said missing the target was mainly because of an increase in the…

At least five civilians have been killed when Saudi military aircraft carried out airstrikes in Yemen’s mountainous northern province of Sa’ada as the Riyadh regime presses ahead with its atrocious bombardment campaign against its crisis-hit southern neighbor. Saudi fighter jets conducted an aerial assault against a car as it was traveling along a road in the Kitaf wa Al Boqe’e district of the province on Monday evening, claiming the lives of four people, Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Masirah television network reported. The report added that the fallen victims were all members of the same family, and that there were a child and…

Arrests of foreign terrorists were unprotected due to the Turkish military operation in Syria. That could trigger a wave of terrorist migration to their home countries, warned Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Turkey launched an offensive in northern Syria on 9 October to combat Kurdish militias on the Turkish border and establish a safe area in the north-east of the Arab country to accommodate thousands of refugees. On October 17, Turkey and the US celebrated a 120-hour ceasefire in Syria for Syrian Kurds to withdraw their forces 30 kilometers from the Turkish border. “The actions of the Turkish army have…

Washington and Seoul must produce new solutions for the current standoff on the Korean Peninsula, a senior North Korean military official said on Monday, adding that that “hostile policies” towards Pyongyang would lead to serious consequences. Kim Hyong-ryong, North Korea’s Vice Minister of the People’s armed forces, said at the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing that Pyongyang has worked to build lasting peace. However, the situation has relapsed into a “dangerous, vicious cycle” of exacerbating tensions because of the actions of the US and South Korean governments, Reuters quoted the official as saying. He also accused South Korea of a “double-dealing…

BY FEDERICO PIERACCINI Trump announced the withdrawal of US troops who had been protecting the SDF (Syrian democratic forces) in the northeast of Syria, prompting Kurdish leadership and the Damascus governed to strike a deal allowing Syrian Arab Army to retake control of the border with Turkey after nearly six years. With the US troops withdrawn numbering around 150 to 200 (out of the 2,000 to 3,000 illegally squatting in Syria), it is understood that Trump’s decision is for reasons other than those stated. The primary impression Trump wishes to convey to his voters is that of keeping his electoral promises, including…