Author: Steven Sahiounie

NATO ministers of defense will hold a meeting in Brussels on May 16, during which they will discuss support for Ukraine, among other things, the NATO press office announced. “The first session will see the Chiefs of Defense meet in a NATO-Ukraine Council format to discuss Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the situation on the ground, and NATO and Allied continued support to Ukraine,” the press office said. Source: TASS

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit France, Serbia and Hungary from May 5-10, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry announced on Monday. Bilateral relations with France have maintained sound growth momentum, and both countries have had strategic communications and practical cooperation, ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said in discussing Xi’s trip to France, Reuters reported. “China looks forward to working with France to further enhance political mutual trust, solidarity and cooperation,” Lin said. He also said Xi will hold talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to exchange views on bilateral relations and discuss upgrading the China-Serbia relationship. Source: Tasnim

The loan, payable over three years, will enable Tunisian state-owned companies to help cover the cost of imports such as “crude oil and petroleum products”, according to the statement

The private sector continued to be the growth driver, although its expansion moderated to 4.4% in 2023 from a strong 5.6% in 2022

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan’ani has condemned the US crackdown on students protests Israel’s bloody war on the Gaza Strip, stressing that police violence will not silence awakened public opinion. Speaking during a press briefing on Monday, Kan’ani said that the United States demonstrated its “dual approach” to human rights by allowing the police to brutally suppress pro-Palestinian demonstrators on college campuses. “What we are witnessing at American universities shows the awakening of the world’s public opinion to the Palestinian issue and the depth of hatred towards the Zionist regime and the genocide in Gaza that is being committed by Israel…

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he is hopeful Hamas will accept an “extraordinarily generous” ceasefire offer to stop Israel’s devastating Gaza offensive in return for the release of hostages. “Hamas must decide, and decide quickly, whether to accept the extraordinarily generous offer for a ceasefire. I am hopeful they would make the right decision, and we can make a fundamental change in the dynamics,” the US official told a World Economic Forum panel in Riyadh. A high-level Egyptian delegation flew in to Israel for talks last Friday amid a new diplomatic push for a truce in the six-month…

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Monday met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, according to Turkish Foreign Ministry. Fidan and Blinken met on the margins of the meeting of the Contact Group on Gaza, mandated by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League, in Riyadh, the ministry said on X. On Monday, Fidan also met with his other counterparts from the contact group, including Jordan’s Ayman Safadi, Norway’s Espen Barth Eide and Yemen’s Shaya Mohsen Al-Zindani. Fidan also held talks with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and Malaysian…

Biden and Netanyahu “reviewed ongoing talks to secure the release of hostages together with an immediate ceasefire in Gaza,” a press release by the White House read. The White House on Sunday said that US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a phone call to discuss the ongoing mediated negotiations with Hamas regarding Israeli captives in Gaza. Biden and Netanyahu “reviewed ongoing talks to secure the release of hostages together with an immediate ceasefire in Gaza,” a press release read. They “also discussed increases in the delivery of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, including through preparations to open new…

President Mahmoud Abbas Monday received Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, on the sidelines of his participation in the special meeting of the World Economic Forum in Riyadh. The President briefed the efforts made to stop the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip, and to bring in humanitarian and medical aid immediately, to stop the famine to which Palestinian people are exposed in the besieged Strip, once again warning of the danger of the occupation invading Rafah, which will lead to a humanitarian catastrophe. President Abbas touched on the dangerous Israeli escalation in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, and the continuation of daily…

Two police officers have been killed and another four suffered wounds in a militant attack on a traffic police unit in Russia’s Karachay-Circassian Region in the North Caucasus, the regional branch of the Interior Ministry said in a statement. “Two police officers seconded from the Interior Ministry’s branch in the Kurgan Region were killed. Two officers from the Interior Ministry’s Traffic Police Department in the Karachay-Circassian Region, a member of the regional National Guard unit and a police officer from the Kurgan Region suffered wounds. Five attackers were killed on the spot,” the statement reads. According to the ministry, the…