Author: Steven Sahiounie

The gold mining industry is struggling to maintain production growth as finding deposits of the yellow metal has become more difficult, according to the World Gold Council (WGC), cited by CNBC on Sunday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was heading back to the Middle East on Monday to push a ceasefire plan, but politics in Israel and an Israeli massacre in Gaza have raised further questions on whether he can succeed. The top US diplomat, paying his eighth visit to the region since war broke out, was set to start the trip in Egypt and head later Monday to Israel. Blinken is scheduled to hold closed-door talks first in Cairo with President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, a key US partner in peace efforts, and later in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Blinken planned…

Türkiye’s foreign minister will travel to Russia on Monday for a two-day visit to attend a meeting of foreign ministers of the BRICS bloc and several other countries, or BRICS+, according to diplomatic sources. The sources said Hakan Fidan will attend the meeting in the city of Nizhny Novgorod on Tuesday and hold talks with Russian officials, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Discussions at the meetings will focus on regional and international issues, including recent developments in Gaza, Ukraine, Syria, Libya, and the South Caucasus. Fidan will reiterate Türkiye’s expectation for a peaceful end to the ongoing wars in its…

The spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry called the US the “biggest loser” in the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip. Speaking to reporters on Sunday at a media event, Nasser Kanaani emphasized how the US had allowed the Israeli regime to continue its crimes in Gaza by giving it unrestricted military and political support. “The Zionist regime, with all its military capabilities and political influence, lost on the battlefield against the Palestinian nation, and the biggest loser in this battle against the people of Gaza, in addition to this usurping regime, is the US government,” he said. He urged…

A Palestinian child has been killed by Israeli forces today during a raid into al-Far’a camp, south of Tubas. Mahmoud Ibrahim Nabrisi, 15, succumbed to serious wounds after he was shot by the occupation forces, medical sources said. They sources told WAFA that ambulance crews transferred Nabrisi after he was seriously injured in Fara’a camp, to the government hospital in Tubas, where later the doctors pronounced him dead. Four youths were injured at dawn today by occupation forces’ bullets during the storming of the said camp. WAFA correspondent said that confrontations with the occupation forces inside took place inside the camp this morning…

Israel’s General Benny Gantz announced in a televised speech his resignation from Netanyahu’s emergency government and called for elections as soon as possible. Minutes after Gantz’s resignation, the former Israeli chief of staff Eisenkot submitted his resignation from the council. Minister Chili Tropper from the National Unity Party submitted his resignation from the government, following the recent resignations of Gantz and Eisenkot. This series of high-profile resignations underscores growing tensions within the Israeli political landscape. The reasons for Tropper’s departure have not yet been detailed. The resignations mark a notable shake-up within the Israeli government, further intensifying the political climate.…

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, during the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ meetings held on June 10 and 11, said Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid, the official spokesperson and Director of Public Diplomacy at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A significant portion of the discussions between Shoukry and Lavrov focused on the current crisis in Gaza and ways to resolve it. Minister Shoukry highlighted the mediation efforts by Egypt and Qatar aimed at reaching a deal that would lead to a ceasefire, allowing for the exchange of prisoners and detainees and the…

The United States announced Sunday it has requested a UN Security Council vote on its draft resolution backing a plan for an “immediate ceasefire with the release of hostages” between Israel and Hamas.Diplomatic sources said the vote is planned for Monday, but has not yet been confirmed by South Korea, which holds the Security Council presidency for the month of June.“Today, the United States called for the Security Council to move toward a vote… supporting the proposal on the table,” said Nate Evans, spokesman for the US delegation, without specifying a vote date.“Council members should not let this opportunity pass…

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir demanded Benny Gantz’s now vacant seat at the war cabinet soon after his resignation was announced. “I have issued a demand to the prime minister … to join the war cabinet,” Ben-Gvir said in a letter posted on X. Ultra-nationalist Jewish Power, headed by Ben-Gvir, holds six seats in parliamen source: AlJazeera

Syria condemned the heinous Israeli massacre that claimed the lives of 274 Palestinians and wounded 698 in Nuseirat camp in Gaza Strip. “The racist Zionist entity and its criminal government continue to commit the most heinous massacres through their blind attack against the Palestinian people in Gaza, which claimed the lives of 274 martyrs and wounded 698 in Nuseirat camp on Saturday,” Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said in a statement Sunday. “ Israeli terrorist army committed another horrible massacre against innocent civilians, and there is evidence proving Washington’s complicity in this massacre and in all war crimes committed in Gaza,”…