Author: Steven Sahiounie

Masked gunmen have ransacked the offices of multiple television stations in Baghdad, as the death toll following days of civil unrest continues to climb. The Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya said that carloads of gunmen arrived at its offices on Saturday evening, ransacked the building and beat up employees who fled. The offices of Dijla, NRT, Arabiya Hadath, Fallouja, Alghad Alaraby, Al-Sharqiya and Sky News Arabia were also reportedly targeted. Among the networks targeted were Kurdish, Jordanian, international and locally-owned outlets. The identity of the attackers is unknown, though NRT claimed that they belonged to “security forces.” On the other hand, Al-Arabiya claimed that the…

By Drago Bosnic  TEHRAN – Iranian Deputy Defense Minister Brigadier General Qassem Taqizadeh said the US has stopped flights of its U-2 reconnaissance planes over the region for fear of being intercepted by Iran’s increasingly effective air defense system. “The US moves in the region are monitored every hour and for instance, the flights of the US U-2 planes which took off from Cyprus and flew twice over the region stopped after Iran made and operated Bavar 373 air defense system and after they found out that the system can track and destroy them (the U-2 planes),” General Taqizadeh said, addressing a ceremony…

At least 18 Iraqis have died in recent days during anti-government protests as people demand improved living standards, employment opportunities and public services, the poor status of which have persisted, despite the defeat of Daesh in the country almost two years ago. Karim Wasfi, president and founder of Peace Through Arts Global Foundation and former conductor of the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra, joined Radio Sputnik’s By Any Means Necessary Thursday to discuss the protests and the power of arts and culture to combat corruption in the country.  “I would start by saying it’s [the protests are] inevitable. The populace had been for…

North Korea’s chief negotiator says working-level nuclear talks with the United States being held in Stockholm after months of stalemate have broken down, blaming the administration of US President Donald Trump for the failure. Kim Myong Gil made the remarks during a press briefing outside his country’s embassy in the Swedish capital on Saturday. “The negotiations have not fulfilled our expectations and finally broke up… without any outcome. (It) is totally due to the fact that the US would not give up their old… attitude,” Kim said. The representatives of North Korea arrived in Sweden on Thursday after Pyongyang unexpectedly…

Nine trucks loaded with armored vehicles and one bus carrying military personnel had been sent to the border district of Akcakale, located in the southeastern province of Sanliurfa, Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu Agency said late on Saturday (October 5). Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan says his country will carry out air and ground military operations in northeast Syria east of the Euphrates. The convoy was sent to reinforce military units based on the Syrian border, Anadolu said. The air and ground operation east of the Euphrates river in Syria could start at any time, Erdogan said early on Saturday after accusing Washington of…

By Shi Hao, Liao Bingqing For Galina Kulikova, an 84-year-old Russian sinologist, this October takes on a special significance. On Sunday, she received the Friendship Medal, China’s highest state honor, in Beijing from Chinese President Xi Jinping. In an interview with Xinhua a few days earlier, Kulikova said she would return to Moscow shortly after the award ceremony to witness yet another historic moment in China-Russia relations — the 70th anniversary of China-Russia diplomatic ties. On Oct. 2, 1949, one day after the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the then Soviet Union recognized the PRC and formally…

By Tony Cartalucci Just as the US admitted shortly after the so-called “Arab Spring” began spreading chaos across the Middle East that it had fully funded, trained, and equipped both mob leaders and heavily armed terrorists years in advance, it is now admitted that the US State Department through a myriad of organizations and NGOs is behind the so-called “Occupy Central” protests in Hong Kong.  The Washington Post would report in an article titled, “Hong Kong erupts even as China tightens screws on civil society,” that: Chinese leaders unnerved by protests elsewhere this year have been steadily tightening controls over civic organizations on the mainland…

The United States’ support for Kurdish-led militants from the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the Arab country continues with the latest delivery of dozens of truckloads of weapons and military equipment. Local and media sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Syria’s official news agency SANA that the US convoy, comprised of various types of ammunition, military equipment and logistics, entered Syria’s al-Jazirah region through the Semalka border crossing, which is a pontoon bridge across the Tigris. The sources added that the trucks were observed early on Thursday while they were passing by Syria’s northeastern city of Qamishli. The trucks were apparently coming…

Multinational investment banks Rothschild and Moelis have been shortlisted to advise on restructuring about $15 billion of debt at Saudi Arabia’s biggest construction firm, Saudi Binladin Group. According to Bloomberg, citing its sources, the investment banks made bids last month for what would be one of the Middle East’s biggest debt revamps. People familiar with the matter said Ken Moelis, the founder and CEO of Moelis, travelled to the kingdom to lead the process. The sources added that Goldman Sachs Group had also bid to work in an advisory role, but had not been shortlisted to work on the restructuring…

Iraq’s prime minister has vowed to address government corruption but urged protesters across the country to go home. At least 40 people have died and hundreds more have been wounded in a violent crackdown on demonstrations. In a televised address on Friday, Adel Abdul Mahdi said that protesters’ demands for social and political reforms were “righteous,” conceding that the government must do more to fight corruption. However, he called for an end to the three-day-old demonstrations, stating that “everyone should respect the rule of law by which everyone can live in security and stability.” Security forces have used live ammunition to disperse the…