Author: Steven Sahiounie

The spokesman for Ansarullah resistance movement says the Yemeni army’s operations against the vessels that are owned by Israel or bound for the occupied Palestinian territories have taken a big toll on the regime’s economy. “Yemen’s operations have a significant economic impact on the Israeli enemy,” Mohammed Abdul-Salam said in a statement on Sunday. Yemen’s Armed Forces have warned that they will target all the vessels that would use the country’s territorial waters in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea to reach Israeli ports. The Yemeni army has also announced that its operations will continue as long as the Israeli…

France’s top diplomat has called for an “immediate” ceasefire in the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip as the country’s foreign ministry condemned the bombing of a residential building that killed one of its staff in the besieged Palestinian territory. Catherine Colonna on Sunday pressed for an “immediate and durable” truce in Israel’s war on Gaza and said Paris was “deeply concerned” over the situation in the war-ravaged territory. “Too many civilians are being killed,” the French foreign minister said during remarks in Tel Aviv with her Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen while discussing the occupying regime’s brutal onslaught on Gaza since early…

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says Tehran is ready to further improve relations with Kuwait in various fields. Amir-Abdollahian made the remark in a meeting with new Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Mishal al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah in Kuwait City on Sunday. He offered condolences of the Iranian president and nation to Kuwait over the passing of former Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah and congratulated Sheikh Mishal on his appointment as the new Emir of the country. The top Iranian diplomat reiterated Tehran’s support for Kuwait City. The new Kuwaiti Emir, for his part, said he has instructed foreign minister and other…

Arab Barometer, a foreign affairs nonpartisan research firm, conducted a survey in Tunisia and found far more Tunisians today want the Palestinians to resolve their conflict with Israel via force rather than with a peaceful settlement. The poll said only 10 percent of Tunisians held a positive view of the United States. Eighty-seven percent, by contrast, had an unfavourable impression. Source: AlJazeera

 Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh stressed today the importance of France’s pressure to push for ceasefire and an end to the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. The prime minister made these remarks during a meeting in Ramallah with the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, in the presence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Riyad Al-Malki, and the French Consul General in Jerusalem, Nicolas Kassianides. Shtayyeh affirmed the necessity of opening all crossings with the Gaza Strip to bring in relief and medical aid as well as fuel, especially to the areas north of…

The transit line through Ukraine remains the only route to supply Russian gas to western and central European countries MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/. Gazprom supplies gas for Europe through Ukraine in the volume of 42 mln cubic meters per day via the Sudzha gas pumping station in Russia’s Kursk Region, a Gazprom representative told reporters. “Gazprom supplies Russian gas for transit through Ukrainian territory in the volume confirmed by the Ukrainian side via the Sudzha gas pumping station of 42 mln cubic meters as of December 17. The request for the Sokhranovka gas pumping station has been rejected,” a Gazprom…

News reports suggest the US government is seeking a revamp of the Palestinian Authority (PA), particularly its American-trained security forces, as one possible solution to the post-war governance of Gaza. US news site Axios reports the Biden administration is “proposing the Palestinian Authority re-activate members of its security forces in Gaza to prepare a local security and police force for the enclave after the conflict, US officials say”. Axios – citing a source “with direct knowledge of the issue” – reported the PA recently contacted former security officers still at an eligible age for service to see if they were potentially interested in…

Gaza’s main telecom companies say mobile and internet services have gradually been restored in the centre and south of the besieged Palestinian territory after four days. “We would like to announce the gradual restoration of telecom services… Our field teams were able to reach and repair the main damaged site after numerous attempts in the past days,” telecommunication companies Paltel and Jawwal said in a statement. Communications were cut on Thursday – the sixth blackout in the Gaza Strip since October 7. Source: AlJazeera

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has asked his US counterpart Antony Blinken for Washington to use its influence over Israel to halt Israeli attacks on Gaza and the occupied West Bank, a Turkish diplomatic source says. In a phone call, Fidan told Blinken the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories is worsening because of attacks, the source said, adding Israel should be made to sit at the negotiating table to discuss a two-state solution after a full ceasefire takes hold. Source: alJazeera

The company noted that supplies are made under a bilateral long-term gas purchase and sale agreement between Gazprom and CNPC MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/. Gazprom set a new historical record for daily gas supplies to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline on December 16, the company said in a statement. “On December 16, China’s application for the supply of Russian gas through the Power of Siberia gas pipeline once again exceeded the daily contractual obligations. Gazprom delivered all the requested volumes and set a new historical record for daily gas supplies to China,” the statement said. Supplies are made…