Author: Steven Sahiounie

Massive protests were held today in many capitals and cities around the globe against the backdrop of the ongoing war waged by Israeli occupation forces on the Gaza Strip, demanding an immediate cessation of the bloodbath and the entry of much needed aid into the besieged enclave. In the French capital, Paris, demonstrators called for an immediate halt to the Israeli genocide in Gaza and for Israel to be held accountable for the carnage it is committing against the Palestinian people. Protesters denounced what they described as Western governments’ complicity in the Israeli war crimes and their obstruction of any…

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived Saturday in the southern Jordanian city of Aqaba, where he is scheduled Sunday to meet King Abdullah II, according to the official Jordanian news agency. Earlier Saturday, Scholz told journalists ahead of his trip that he would first engage in talks with Abdullah and noted his plans to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog and other officials in Israel. “It is necessary for aid to reach Gaza on a larger scale now. That will be a topic that I also have to talk about,” said Olaf Scholz. Expressing concerns about potential military developments…

A top Democrat senator in the US has called on President Joe Biden to “use all levers” at his disposal in pressuring Israel to change its war strategy, The Guardian reported. Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen is part of a group of seven senators who this week sent to a letter to Biden urging an end to US weapon deliveries to Tel Aviv. The US must stop providing military aid to Israel until it ends any restrictions on the flow of aid into Gaza, Van Hollen said. In an interview on Friday, the senator urged Biden to “push harder and use…

WHO director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus remarked that it was impractical to go forward with an “evacuation plan” and that the 1.2 million Palestinians in Rafah have nowhere safe to relocate to.  The President of the World Health Organization (WHO) implored the Israeli occupation “in the name of humanity” not to begin an assault on Rafah, where the majority of Gaza’s population is fleeing. “I’m gravely concerned about reports of an Israeli plan to proceed with a ground assault on Rafah,” WHO director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on X. “Further escalation of violence in this densely populated area would lead to many more deaths and…

Online voter turnout in Russia’s presidential election on the federal platform has reached 90%, according to the portal on online vote monitoring. As of 9:27 p.m. Moscow time (6:27 p.m. GMT), as many as 4,268,291 ballots were issued to voters in 28 Russian regions, who had applied for voting online. Thus, voter turnout on the federal platform of electronic voting was 90% Residents of Moscow can vote on Moscow’s own platform and were not required to apply for remote voting beforehand. The Federation Council, the upper house of Russia’s parliament, officially designated March 17, 2024 as the day of the…

Deploying troops of the US-led NATO bloc to battlefields in Ukraine might result in an all-out global conflict, effectively a Third World War, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has said. He has ruled out any possibility that his country’s forces will somehow end up deployed to support Kiev’s fight. The minister made the remarks on Friday during an interview on the sidelines of the LetExpo show in Verona. Asked about the prospect of NATO troops ending up in such a deployment, Tajani spoke out against the idea. “I think that NATO shouldn’t enter Ukraine. It would be a mistake. We…

Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani has stated that Iran is prepared to utilize its full capabilities to assist Syria in enhancing its defense and deterrent power against the US and Israel. In a meeting with his Syrian counterpart Ali Mahmoud Abbas in Tehran on Saturday, Ashtiani warned against plots by the United States and Israel to intensify crisis across West Asia. “Any strategic mistake and adventure of the US and the Zionist regime will lead to the worsening of the situation in the region,” he said. He condemned Israel’s airstrikes against Syria and violation of its territorial integrity,…

Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa on Saturday met with the US secretary of state in Manama to discuss regional issues.The crown prince and Antony Blinken “discussed efforts to achieve a ceasefire of at least six weeks in Gaza as part of an agreement to secure the release of hostages,” the US State Department said in a statement.Prince Salman stressed the kingdom’s “firm stance toward the Palestinian cause and its unwavering commitment to reaching a peaceful, lasting and fair solution in support of Palestinians’ legitimate right to establish an independent state, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” Bahrain’s state…

President Mahmoud Abbas engaged in a phone conversation this evening with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. The conversation discussed the urgent measures needed to cease the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem. Both leaders stressed the imperative for Israel to completely withdraw from Gaza and cease all unilateral actions in the West Bank and Jerusalem. They underscored the critical need for Palestinian worshippers to access Al-Aqsa Mosque without hindrance. Furthermore, President Abbas and Sheikh Tamim reaffirmed their dedication to delivering essential humanitarian aid through various channels and ensuring…

US and Jordanian aircraft on Saturday dropped food supplies to Palestinian civilians trapped in the Gaza Strip in a joint humanitarian aid operation, US Central Command said in a statement.The airdrops by a US Air Force C-130 aircraft and a Royal Jordanian Air Force C-130 aircraft came as the main UN agency working in the enclave said that one in three children under age two is acutely malnourished. It warned of looming famine.US Central Command called the airdrops “part of a sustained effort and we continue to plan follow-on aerial deliveries.”Much of Gaza lies in ruins and its 2.3 million…