Author: Steven Sahiounie

By: Malik Ayub Sumbal Right from the start of talks between the U.S. and Taliban, the Afghan government called for a comprehensive ceasefire across the country to pave way for a potential peace deal, but the U.S. Taliban and other stakeholders neglected the Kabul administration and moved ahead with the Taliban on the negotiation table. Surprisingly, a few hours before the signing of a landmark peace deal with the Taliban’s, the U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that he is canceling a secret meeting with Taliban’s leaders at Camp David. The US’ threefold policy in Afghanistan The cancellations of the secret…

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry wants more support for neighboring Sudan’s new civilian government, including getting it off the US list of countries sponsoring terrorism. Shoukry said Cairo is working with Washington and other countries to remove Sudan from the list, AP reported. He spoke on Monday in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, beside the country’s first woman foreign minister, Asmaa Abdalla. She had been sworn in a day earlier, as part of the first cabinet since the military ousted autocratic President Omar al-Bashir in April, following mass pro-democracy protests. The US named Sudan a state sponsor of terror in 1993,…

Saudi Arabia has announced plans to produce and enrich uranium in the future for its nuclear power program set to enter into an operational phase with two atomic reactors. Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the kingdom’s new energy minister, said on Monday that Riyadh intends to diversify its energy mix and go ahead with the full cycle of its nuclear program, including the production and enrichment of uranium for atomic fuel. “We are proceeding with it cautiously… we are experimenting with two nuclear reactors,” Abdulaziz said at an energy conference in Abu Dhabi. The Saudi official also pointed to Riyadh’s plans…

Northern Africa and the Sahel may become the terrorists’ new bases after their expulsion from Syria, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said after a 2+2 meeting of the Russian and French foreign and defense ministers in Moscow on Monday. “We discussed in great detail the situation in Syria, northern Africa and the Sahel, because these regions may become new bases for terrorists, including those being driven out of Syria,” TASS quoted Shoigu as saying. The participants in the negotiations noted the similarity of views regarding ways of warding of these threats and identified specific measures to coordinate efforts.

By:Andrew Korybko Petroleum Economist recently published a report citing an unnamed senior Iranian source who alleged that China will invest $120 billion in the Islamic Republic’s transport and manufacturing infrastructure and even deploy 5,000 security personnel to the country to protect those projects, but there are plenty of reasons to be skeptical about those sensationalist claims which will very likely be proven false with time. Alt-Media is celebrating Petroleum Economist’s sensationalist report about China and Iran as a supposedly “game-changing” development in the New Cold War after an unnamed senior Iranian source told the publication that the People’s Republic will invest $120 billion in the…

By Elijah J. Magnier A secret deal has been set up between the US and Iran, through a third party, to enable the Iranian super tanker Adrian Darya 1 (formerly Grace 1) to deliver its 2.1 million barrels of oil to the Syrian government. Smaller tankers worked for five days unloading the oil to be delivered to the Syrian port of Tartous from offshore. Sources closed to the negotiation team said the US “was determined to stop the Iranian supertanker from reaching Syria due to the US-EU strategy to economically sanction the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and turn Syrians against their leader.” These…

Sarah Abed, independent journalist and analyst Denmark is recognized as one of the most socially and economically developed countries in the world, which enjoys a high standard of living as well as high metrics in national performance, protection of civil liberties, and the lowest perceived level of corruption in the world, has announced that it will be boosting military contributions to missions around the world, including joining the United States in its illegal and unauthorized deployment in northeastern Syria.  The sovereign and proud nation of Syria has neither invited nor does it accept any foreign invaders on its land and…

Saudi Arabia has suffered loss of military personnel and mercenaries in a retaliatory missile strike carried out by Yemen’s army soldiers and fighters from allied Popular Committees targeting positions in the southern region of Jizan. The media bureau of Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement announced in a statement that six domestically-developed Zelzal-1 (Earthquake-1) missiles were fired at Saudi strongholds that were also populated by militiamen loyal to former Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi east of the mountainous district of Jabal al-Doud on Sunday afternoon. There has been no report on the number of casualties. The statement added that the projectiles hit the…

Libya’s internationally-recognized government has criticized the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for hosting a member of renegade Libyan general Khalifa Haftar’s forces, denouncing the Arab country’s position as “hostile.” In a statement issued on Sunday, the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) condemned the “hostile position of the United Arab Emirates,” which has allowed Abu Dhabi to be used as “a media platform for militias attacking the Libyan capital.” Haftar ordered militia groups loyal to him to invade Tripoli in an unsuccessful attempt to seize it on April 4. Almost five months after launching the offensive, the rebel forces remain bogged down on the…

Sudan’s first cabinet since the ouster of president Omar al-Bashir was sworn Sunday as the African country transitions to civilian rule. The 18-member cabinet led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok took oath at the presidential palace in Khartoum, AFP reported. It is expected to steer the daily affairs of the country during a transition period of 39 months. The cabinet includes four women, among them Asmaa Abdallah, who becomes the country’s first female foreign minister. It also includes Ibrahim Elbadawi, a former World Bank economist who will serve as finance minister, and Madani Abbas Madani — a leader of the…