Author: Steven Sahiounie

Experts say critical oil supplies lost due to Yemeni attacks on Saudi Arabia’s production plants can only be compensated if the United States eases its sanctions on sale of crude by Iran. Sandy Fielden, an analyst at Morningstar, a global financial services firm based in the US, said on Saturday that the current oil stocks in Saudi Arabia, the biggest oil exporter in the world, would not suffice to compensate for a loss of around 5 million barrels per day (bpd) that could be caused by attacks earlier in the day targeting the kingdom’s vital oil facilities located east of…

The US Department of Defence is going to send around 150 troops to northeastern Syria to carry out joint patrols with Turkey, US media has reported. The move will be part of a series of military and diplomatic steps, taken by the United States over recent weeks to ease tensions in relations with Turkey due to Washington’s ongoing support for Kurdish units, operating in northern Syria, The New York Times reported on Thursday. US military and diplomatic officials have refused to comment on the issue. The United States currently has less than 1,000 troops in Syria, who are involved in fighting the remnants of…

The US State Department on Thursday revealed that it had cleared the way for Morocco to purchase nearly $1 billion worth of American munitions, including thousands of anti-tank guided missiles and bombs used by F-16 Fighting Falcons. The deal is composed of two munitions packages, and the costlier purchase by Morocco came to the tune of $776 million for more than 2,400 TOW 2A Radio Frequency missiles, 400 M220A2 TOW launchers and some 28 “Fly-to-Buy” missiles for lot acceptance testing. Other items included in this particular buy include spare parts, tools and equipment, as well as training. Morocco’s second munitions purchase brought the grand…

The presidents of Russia, Turkey and Iran will meet at a summit on Syrian settlement in Ankara on Monday and will discuss the situation in the Idlib region, Syria, the Turkish leader told the national NTV channel. “Idlib will be in the focus of our attention at the trilateral meeting in Ankara. Opinions will also be exchanged on [Turkish] observation points and the fight against terrorist groups,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. The summit will take place in the historical Cankaya Mansion, which served as the residence of the Turkish prime minister, as well as the president until 2014, the president’s office…

Andrew Bacevich When the conflict that the Vietnamese refer to as the American War ended in April 1975, I was a U.S. Army captain attending a course at Fort Knox, Kentucky. In those days, the student body at any of our Army’s myriad schools typically included officers from the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). Since ARVN’s founding two decades earlier, the United States had assigned itself the task of professionalizing that fledgling military establishment. Based on a conviction that the standards, methods, and ethos of our armed forces were universally applicable and readily exportable, the attendance of ARVN…

BY AHMAD AL KHALED A year ago Turkey and Russia have entered into an agreement to establish a demilitarized zone in Idlib province, an area considered to be the last bastion of the Syrian opposition. Under the agreement, Ankara and Moscow should seek from their allies (rebels and Bashar al Assad) the withdrawal of heavy weapons, restoring peaceful life, and starting a political process. But the international community has witnessed massacres in the countryside. So, what was the reason for this? According to the UN Report on the Independent International Commission in Syria issued on January 31, 2019, Turkish-backed National Front…

Tens of thousands of Algerians have marched in the capital to demand that the rest of the ruling elite follow former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in quitting power before any new election. The 30th consecutive Friday protest also included demands that the authorities release Karim Tabou, a prominent opposition leader who has been held since Wednesday and charged with “contributing to weakening army morale”. The army, the strongest institution in Algeria, wants a presidential election as soon as possible to break the deadlock between the protesters and the authorities. The absence of an elected president since Bouteflika resigned in April has…

The administration of US President Donald Trump has imposed sanctions on three hacking groups allegedly sponsored by the North Korean government. The US Treasury Department announced the sanctions on Friday, claiming that the three groups — commonly known as Lazarus Group, Bluenoroff, and Andariel — were involved in the theft of millions of dollars from financial institutions and cryptocurrency exchanges, as well as the 2018 WannaCry hack that crippled Britain’s National Health Service. In a press release, the Treasury said, “North Korean state-sponsored malicious cyber groups [were] responsible for North Korea’s malicious cyber activity on critical infrastructure,” adding that they…

The European Union has prolonged for six months individual restrictive measures against 170 citizens and 44 legal entities of Russia and Ukraine, the Council of the EU said in a statement released in Brussels on Thursday. “The Council has extended the restrictive measures over actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine for a further six months, until 15 March 2020,” the statement says. The decision was adopted by the council “by written procedure,” and the legal acts will be published in the Official Journal on September 13, 2019. The EU previously extended individual sanctions against Russia in…

A string of nighttime explosions at a Turkish military base in northern Cyprus has damaged a nearby seaside hotel and injured 12 people, prompting the evacuation of terrified tourists, officials say. The blasts rang out at intervals over a three-hour period in the arms depot at the base in Catalkoy, west of the town of Kyrenia, sparking a fire. The luxury Acapulco Hotel was damaged, with windows shattered and ceilings collapsed, and guests evacuated to a safe area. Turkish Cypriot authorities said 12 people were injured, two of whom remained in hospital several hours later. A probe was launched to…