Author: Steven Sahiounie

Thanks to steadily growing gold and foreign currency reserves, Russia’s debt-to-GDP ratio has turned negative for the first time since its economy was hit by Western sanctions and by the oil market crash of 2014. As of August 1, the state debt (at the federal, regional and municipal level) amounted to 16.2 trillion rubles (around $247.3 billion). At the same time liquid assets of federal government, regions and non-budget funds stood at 17.6 trillion (nearly $268.8 billion). It means that the state debt in broad terms became lower than the nation’s holdings, according to calculations by the Russian business outlet…

North Korea has launched several unidentified projectiles toward the Sea of Japan, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported citing the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JSC) on Tuesday. According to the South Korean military, the projectiles were fired eastward, from an inland area in the South Pyongan Province in North Korea’s west, TASS reports. The type of the projectiles and their range is yet unknown. “Our military is monitoring the situation in case of additional launches and maintaining a readiness posture,” the agency quoted JCS as saying in a statement. In turn, Japan’s Kyodo news agency said the two missiles did…

In a significant escalation of Sino-British tensions, China has warned the UK against sailing ships in Chinese territorial waters in the South China Sea. China’s ambassador to Britain, Liu Xiaoming, reacted strongly to reports that the UK is considering sending its sole aircraft carrier close to China’s Spratly Islands. Reacting to suggestions that the UK’s HMS Queen Elizabeth may sail into Chinese territorial waters with US jets onboard, Liu Xiaoming replied curtly that Britain “should not do this dirty job for somebody else”. Speaking at the Defence Correspondent’s Association in London, the Chinese ambassador firmly rejected suggestions that Britain’s…

The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates has summoned Israeli Ambassador to the country, Amir Weisbrod, to express the Amman government’s resentment over detention of two Jordanian civilians of Palestinian descent in the occupied territories, demanding their immediate release. Sufyan al-Qudah, a spokesman for the ministry, said on Tuesday that Jordanian authorities are working through all available diplomatic, political and legal means to ensure the freedom of Abdulrahman Marei and Heba Abdelbaqi, who were lately arrested after crossing the King Hussein Bridge, also known as the Allenby Bridge, which crosses the Jordan River near the Palestinian city of Ariha (Jericho) and connects…

A senior official at the Progress and Development Headquarters (PDH) of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced that the headquarters is implementing pilot development projects with the aim of alleviating deprivation in 1200 villages. Speaking to reporters in the southern city of Shiraz on Saturday, Ebrahim Ahmadi pointed to the PDH’s efforts to eliminate deprivation in rural areas across Iran and said, “Deprivation has different definitions.” “The PDH’s activity has been defined in various areas of culture, employment, livelihoods, infrastructure, development, health, etc., and is not limited to development issues,” he said. The official went on to say that…

The Russian Defence Ministry denied Reuters reports that Russian combat jets had delivered strikes on the Idlib de-escalation zone in Syria thus violating the truce. “Since the beginning of the cessation of fire regime on 31 August in the Idlib de-escalation zone, Russian Aerospace Forces and Syrian Air Force aircraft have not performed any combat missions to hit targets on the ground”, the ministry said. “The information of the British news agency Reuters about the alleged airstrikes by the Russian Aerospace Forces on the Jabal al-Akrad hill is another fake”, it said. The statement comes after Reuters reported earlier in the day citing…

The shock announcement came amid media reports suggesting that the US president and his national security advisor had major disagreements over the invitation of the Taliban to Camp David for peace talks. Trump, however, denied the reports, branding them “fake news,” while confirming that the peace talks are currently “dead.” US President Donald Trump has taken to Twitter in order to announce that he had asked National Security Advisor John Bolton to resign. The US president shed light on the fact that he “disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration”, without further specifying. Trump…

India is negotiating with Russia over the purchase of additional 21 MiG-29 and 12 Sukhoi Su-30 jets, Indian media have reported. “A proposal in this regard by the Indian Air force (IAF) is likely to be taken up before a high-level meeting of the Defence Ministry in the next few weeks,” government sources said. According to the sources, radars and other equipment on the MiG-29 planes will be of latest standards. The 12 Su-30 MKIs are being planned to be inducted for replacing the number of aircraft lost by the IAF in different accidents, they said. Ilya Tarasenko, CEO, MiG…

Sarah Abed, independent journalist and analyst On Sunday, six military vehicles from Akcakale district in southeast Sanliurfa in Turkey, crossed the border into Syria and joined a US military convoy in carrying out joint military ground patrols from Tel Abyad, Al Raqqa governorate to Ras Al Ain, Al Hassaka governorate. Two helicopters flew overhead, and unmanned aerial vehicles were also used according to Turkey’s Defense Ministry. The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) are leaving areas on Turkey’s border and uprooting fortifications as part of the US-Turkey “safe zone” agreement, which was the result of relentless pressure from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan,…

Steven Sahiounie, Middle East observer An underground hospital has recently been found in Idlib, as the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) advances on a mission to liberate the area from Al Qaeda occupation and free the civilians.  The SAA was fighting in an area only inhabited by Hayat Tahir al-Sham (HTS), aka Al Qaeda in Syria.  This hospital never delivered a baby or treated a child’s inflamed tonsils.  This hospital was chiseled out of the rock, deep under the ground, and was only accessible by armed terrorists.  Inside the hospital-cave was an elaborate stone wall memorial in honor of the charity…