Author: Steven Sahiounie

The UN’s food agency on Thursday said it was pressing Israel to allow it to use the Ashdod port north of Gaza to make it easier to reach starving Palestinians.“We have several requests with the Israelis,” World Food Programme (WFP) Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau told AFP in Rome, after its latest failed attempt to get food to northern Gaza.“We want to use the Ashdod port, which would be much more efficient than going through Jordan or even Egypt,” Skau said.Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, Gaza has been plunged into a food crisis, with outside…

In a collaborative effort led by the Turkish Red Crescent, another ship carrying 2,737 tons of humanitarian aid departed from Türkiye’s southern Mersin province for war-torn Gaza strip on Thursday. The supplies include food packages, water, flour, clothing, hygiene products, tents, sleeping bags, blankets, shelter materials, and medical supplies, among others. In a ceremony before the goods left for Gaza, Turkish Red Crescent President Fatma Meric Yilmaz Türkiye said the aid will reach Egypt’s Al-Arish port, from where it will be loaded onto trucks for its intended destination. Türkiye has been working to support Palestine, and so far had sent…

Former US President Trump says he would watch the State of the Union address this week and “will correct, in rapid response” Biden’s speech – taking a jab at the multiple times Biden has had mistakes and gaffes in his speeches. In an attempt to celebrate his victory of mass Super Tuesday election sweeps, the only GOP candidate remaining and former President Donald Trump has challenged current US President and Democratic candidate Joe Biden to TV debates “anytime, anywhere, anyplace,” as he said online in all capital letters. Biden’s campaign claimed in return that Trump was “thirsty for attention and struggling to…

No one planned to mount an attack on Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s motorcade in Odessa, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said. “Everything here is obvious to everyone. Both that there was no attack on the motorcade in Odessa, and [moreover] that if a target had been set, they (Russian forces – TASS) would have hit it,” Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel, commenting on the explosion that occurred on March 6 in Odessa in close proximity to the motorcade of Zelensky and his guest, visiting Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. “But it’s still somehow a pity,” the official…

Sweden will officially become a NATO member on Thursday, March 7, according to a statement published on the White House website. “Sweden is formally joining the NATO Alliance on March 7, 2024, becoming the 32nd Ally,” the statement said. According to the US Department of State, at 7:15 p.m. Moscow time (4:15 p.m. GMT), US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. As reported earlier, Sweden’s flag will be raised at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Monday, March 11. source: TASS

Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned Israel’s plans to build 3,500 new settlement homes in the occupied West Bank. The ministry issued a statement calling the plans unilateral and illegal measures that violate international law and undermine peace efforts and the establishment of a Palestinian state. The Israeli settlement-planning authority announced on Wednesday that it had pushed forward permits for the new settlements in Maale Adumim, Kedar and Efrat, which are situated close to Jerusalem. Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the new planned settlements will add to a record number already approved this year. “The enemies try…

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said that he had an important conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) and other “challenges.” “Important exchange with the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin in Sochi, on the nuclear safety and security of the ZNPP and other non-proliferation global challengers,” Grossi wrote on the X social network. The conversation between Putin, Grossi and Alexey Likhachev, CEO of Russia’s Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation, took place in the Russian leader’s Bocharov Ruchey summer residence in Sochi. It lasted for an about…

The commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) suggests that the regional resistance front could still face the Israeli regime with more surprises by fielding more of its capabilities. The October-present war between the Israeli regime and the resistance front showed that the front serves as an “integrated set that has a lot of capabilities,” Brigadier General Esmail Qa’ani said on Wednesday. “Of course, it has not yet used all of its capabilities,” he said, adding, “It was also proven [during the war] that no one can take the resistance front for granted.” Israel launched…

Biden will begin delivering his annual speech to legislators, broadcast live throughout the country by news channels, at 09:00 PM EST (05:00 AM Friday Moscow time). This will be his fourth speech of this kind. The first one was delivered at the end of April 2021, three months after Biden took office as head of state. In this regard, it was not formally a State of the Union address, which usually sums up the work of the past year and announces plans for the future. The 46th President of the United States delivered his first full State of the Union…

The Yemeni Armed Forces claim responsibility for the attack on a US-owned ship in the Gulf of Aden, which set fire to the ship and left some of its crew members missing. The Yemeni Armed Forces attacked US bulk carrier True Confidence in the Gulf of Aden, spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said on Wednesday. The announcement saw the Yemeni armed forces claim responsibility for the attack that had been shrouded in mystery for hours, clarifying that the “incident”, as it had been called, was its forces launching drones and missiles at the ship. “The Yemeni naval missiles struck the…