Author: Steven Sahiounie

President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro announced that he will visit Russia soon, and expressed his solidarity with the people of Russia and President Vladimir Putin. “Please, tell Putin that I will visit him soon,” Maduro told Russian Ambassador Sergey Malik-Bagdasarov live on Venezuelan TV Monday, TASS reported. “What happened in Moscow (the Crocus City Hall attack) hurts me deeply. I ask you to relay in a special way to our older brother, honored President Putin, the total solidarity and support of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” Maduro told the envoy, invited to the TV show. source: Tasnim

Should a war break out in Belarus, the country will be ready, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said. “Don’t believe those who say that we want war. We are preparing for war, make no bones about it. It wasn’t me who was the first to say: ‘If you want peace, prepare for war.’ It’s an apt saying to this day,” Lukashenko pointed out during a trip to the Gomel Region, as cited by the BelTA news agency. According to the Belarusian president, the country’s armed forces are getting the necessary training, while various weapons and military equipment are being provided to the army.…

The Iranian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson called for international condemnation of the Israeli regime’s airstrike on people working with the NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK) in the Gaza Strip. In a post on his X account, Nasser Kanaani said the “terrorist Zionist army’s targeted attack” on the convoy of the World Central Kitchen workers in the Gaza Strip deserves international condemnation. Offering his condolences to the families of the seven victims of the attack, Kanaani said the crime indicates that the Zionist regime is insisting on its plans for starving out Gazans, creating famine, the organized and targeted massacre of innocent…

The Iranian foreign minister called on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to show an immediate and appropriate reaction to the Israeli regime’s criminal strike on the consular section of Iran’s embassy in Syria that has killed several advisers. In a telephone conversation with OIC Secretary General Hissein Brahim Taha, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian condemned the Israeli regime’s fatal strike on Iran’s diplomatic building in Damascus. The minister said the airstrike has violated the international law and the conventions of diplomatic and consular rights, the Foreign Ministry’s website reported. Amirabdollahian also called for an appropriate and immediate response from…

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell condemned the reported Israeli strike that killed seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen in the Gaza strip overnight, calling for an inquiry. “I condemn the attack and urge an investigation. Despite all the demands to protect civilians and humanitarian workers, we see new innocent casualties,” Borrell posts on X, adding that the incident further strengthens the need for an immediate ceasefire. Borrell called for the implementation of the UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, full access to humanitarian aid, and enhanced protection for civilians. US-based aid group World Central Kitchen confirmed that seven of its team…

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah, in a meeting in Amman on Tuesday, reiterated the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, given the humanitarian catastrophe, starvation, and devastation of livelihoods in the besieged region.Presidential spokesman Ahmed Fahmy said the two leaders spoke of the close relations between the two countries at all levels, emphasizing mutual commitment to further advancing and strengthening cooperation in all domains.There was also an alignment of views in regard to the importance of continuing coordination and consultations on developments in regional and international issues, including the situation in the Gaza Strip.The…

BENGALURU: Global road oil demand will rise 5 percent to a peak of 50 million barrels per day by 2032, Goldman Sachs forecasts, with oil use per vehicle likely to fall sharply because electric vehicles are expected to account for more than half of auto sales by 2040, according to Reuters.

RIYADH: Dubai’s real estate market witnessed strong growth in 2023, with rental prices for villas surging 16.2 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, official data showed. 

At a press conference in Paris on Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Stephane Séjourné and US counterpart US Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced opposition to the recent attack that claimed the lives of seven foreign aid workers in Gaza. “Protecting humanitarian workers is a moral and legal imperative that everyone must adhere to,” Séjourné said, adding, “Nothing justifies such a tragedy.” The aid workers were part of a US-based charity organization called World Central Kitchen and were sent on a mission to deliver food to civilians in the Strip. They were killed inside their vehicle by a targeted Israeli airstrike…

Türkiye on Tuesday condemned Israel’s attack on an Iranian diplomatic mission in Syria’s capital Damascus. “We condemn the Israeli attack on the Iranian Embassy in Damascus. Israel’s action adds to its recent violations of international law,” a Foreign Ministry statement said. “We are concerned that this action may escalate into a conflict affecting the entire region,” it added. The ministry also urged all sides to act with “common sense and restraint, and to abide by international law.” At least 11 people, including three from Syria and a Lebanese national, were killed in Monday’s attack on the Iranian Consulate in Damascus.…