Author: Steven Sahiounie

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator US special envoy Amos Hochstein arrived in Beirut on Tuesday morning with a packed schedule of meetings. He is the special presidential coordinator for global infrastructure and energy security, and was successful in brokering a maritime border deal between Israel and Lebanon in 2022, but on this trip he is attempting to make a deal to avoid war between Israel and the Lebanese resistance group, Hezbollah. After the October 7 attack on Israel, the conflict in Gaza began. Hezbollah began strikes on October 8 in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance, and call for the…

The United Nations’ human rights chief warned on Tuesday that the rights situation in the West Bank, including east al-Quds, is rapidly deteriorating, highlighting the “unconscionable death and suffering” occurring in Gaza. “The situation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is dramatically deteriorating,” Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the opening session of the UN Human Rights Council. He reported that as of June 15, 528 Palestinians, including 133 children, had been killed by Israeli occupation forces or settlers since October, raising “serious concerns of unlawful killings.” “Israel’s relentless strikes in Gaza are causing immense…

North Korean State Affairs President Kim Jong Un called Russia “a true friend” and its President Vladimir Putin “the dearest friend of the Korean people.” Putin and Kim Jong Un made press statements following the signing of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty between Russia and North Korea. “At this moment, as the whole world turns its eyes to Pyongyang, where a friendship mission from Russia has arrived, I stand with my Russian comrades, true friends and associates, in this solemn hall,” Kim Jong Un said. He noted that the conclusion of their latest “very robust treaty” between Russia and North…

Caretaker Foreign Minister of Iran Ali Baqeri has traveled to Qatar for negotiations about a range of bilateral and regional issues, especicially the latest developments in Gaza. Baqeri left Tehran for Doha on Wednesday afternoon for an hours-long meeting. The Iranian caretaker minister is going to hold talks with Qatari officials about ways to mobilize the Muslim world’s support for Palestine, end the Israeli regime’s genocidal and war crimes against Gaza, and provide immediate humanitarian aid to people in the besieged enclave. At least 37,396 people have been killed and 85,523 injured in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7, 2023.…

The official welcome ceremony of the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been held in Kim Il Sung Square in central Pyongyang. In the square, which is among the thirty largest in the world and can accommodate more than one hundred thousand people, a guard of honor was lined up. Residents of Pyongyang were also present in the square. The ceremony participants were holding flowers in their hands. On the eve of the ceremony the square had been decorated for the arrival of the high-ranking guest. The buildings were draped with the…

Ukraine will never join the North Atlantic Alliance, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in an interview with TASS. Commenting on statements by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that the condition for Ukraine’s entry into the military bloc will be its victory in the conflict with the Russian Federation, the deputy minister said: “This means this will never happen.” “I hope Mr. Stoltenberg understands this,” he added. “He knows better than I how the notorious decision of 2008 was prepared, when NATO leaders wrote at the highest level that Ukraine would become a member of NATO. This became the…

Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Pyongyang on a state visit at the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Kim welcomed the Russian president at the airport. This will be Putin’s third meeting with Kim since 2019. Long road On his way to North Korea, Putin crossed six time zones and made a stopover in Russia’s Siberian Republic of Yakutia. This is Putin’s second visit to North Korea in nearly 24 years. He visited Pyongyang in July 2000, two months after his presidential inauguration, when North Korea was ruled by Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il. Putin and…

Prime Minister Muhammad Mustafa today chaired a meeting of leaders of the security establishment in the city of Tulkarm, in the presence of Tulkarm Governor Mustafa Taqatqa. Mustafa confirmed that the meeting came under the guidance of President Mahmoud Abbas and a message of support for the Palestinian people in Tulkarm and the security establishment, in light of the comprehensive destruction that the governorate recently witnessed due to the practices and invasions of the occupation army into the city and the camps. The Prime Minister further considered Israeli ongoing incursion and destruction in the city of Tulkarm and its camps…

RIYADH: Global industries must halve emissions by the end of this decade to reach 2050 net-zero targets, according to a new analysis urging for increased clean energy infrastructure spending. 

The Ukrainian government announced on Monday it had failed to reach an agreement with a group of foreign bondholders that includes financial giants BlackRock and Pimco on restructuring Ukraine’s $20 billion in Eurobonds, according to a report by Reuters.