Author: Steven Sahiounie

The Jordanian army says it deployed parachutes to carry out the fourth airdrop of “urgent relief aid” to a private Jordanian field hospital in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis. In a statement, the military said a Royal Air Force plane unloaded “boxes containing medical and therapeutic aid” to help the hospital keep operating. The aid is part of Jordan’s effort to relieve the displaced Palestinians “of the difficult circumstances they are exposed to” amid continuous Israeli bombardment, it added. Jordan also promised to continue to increase the capacity of medical personnel at its Gaza facility and “enhance and develop the hospital’s…

Alongside funding for Ukraine and other foreign policy issues, the $106bn bill would provide about $14bn to Israel to restock its missile defence systems. All Senate Republicans voted against moving forward with the measure as they called for border security provisions to be included. Bernie Sanders also voted against the bill, saying earlier this week that he opposed providing more funding to the “extremist Netanyahu government”. Rights advocates have called on the Biden administration to condition US aid to Israel – which totals $3.8bn annually – and argued that the funding contributes to Israeli abuses against Palestinians and violations of…

Karim Khan said in a post on X that he has “emphasised the imperative that humanitarian relief be allowed into #Gaza immediately and at scale”. “I wish to reiterate in the clearest terms possible that wilfully impeding relief supplies to civilians may constitute a war crime under the #ICC Rome Statute,” he said. Khan has faced criticism from Palestinian leaders, including UN envoy Riyad Mansour, who earlier urged the ICC to hold Israel accountable for crimes committed against Palestinians. Israel’s security cabinet agreed on Wednesday to allow “minimal” additional fuel into Gaza. Rights groups and UN agencies have said deliveries…

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan discussed on Wednesday the situation in Gaza  with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the Kingdom’s Foreign Ministry said.Guterres called Prince Faisal and they discussed the importance of making more effort to reach an immediate ceasefire.Israel is waging a ground and air offensive against Hamas in all parts of Gaza, resulting in mass civilian deaths and causing a humanitarian catastrophe. Source: Arab News

UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps will use a trip to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories to push for humanitarian aid to be delivered faster to Gaza, including by sea directly, Reuters news agency reports. “We are working to find the best way to get aid and support to those in desperate need in the quickest and most direct route. That includes options by land, sea and air,” Shapps was quoted by Reuters as saying. The UK, which is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has resisted calls for a new UN vote calling for a ceasefire in…

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told officials in Israel’s war cabinet last week that the Biden administration believed the war should end in weeks, not months. Israeli officials, in turn, expressed an interest in a return to normalcy, especially in the interest of economic stability, but did not make any guarantees. The WSJ cited US officials with knowledge of the discussions. Source: AlJazeera

Banque Pictet used “a variety of means” to help customers evade taxes, prosecutors say A major Swiss bank has admitted to helping American taxpayers and others to hide billions of dollars from the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Monday. According to US prosecutors, Banque Pictet held approximately $5.6 billion in 1,637 accounts for American citizens, helping them avoid paying the IRS about $50.6 million in taxes between 2008 and 2014. The Geneva-based bank, the private banking division of the 218-year-old Pictet Group, has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ and…

Cyprus is probing claims of sanctions violations, Politis newspaper writes The government of Cyprus has ordered the country’s banks to stop all transactions using the Russian ruble, the newspaper Politis reported on Tuesday. The outlet explained that the ban comes as part of an investigation into reported violations of the EU sanctions against Russia. It doesn’t specify when the ban came into force. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) claimed in its Cyprus Confidential report last month that a “sprawling financial industry” on the island enabled Moscow to dodge the sanctions regime. According to the publication, law and accounting firms are investigating possible abuse of…

Western restrictions imposed on Moscow have boosted the Chinese currency, Oleg Deripaska claims The share of Chinese yuan in global payments has nearly doubled because of the sanctions policies pursued by the US and the EU, Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska said on Wednesday. The aluminum magnate referred to a report in the Financial Times, which cited figures showing that global settlements carried out in the Chinese currency had gone from 1.9% in January 2023 to 3.6% in October. “The number of worldwide transactions made in Chinese yuan has doubled over the past year, highlighting the extreme success of European and…

The restrictions have prompted the development of domestic components, according to the prime minister   The sanctions imposed by the West on Russia have sparked a revival of the country’s industrial and technological capacity, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin stated on Wednesday. Speaking at the international Russia EXPO exhibition, Mishustin noted that the numerous packages of sanctions “pumped out by the West have not led to the collapse of the Russian economy, as their authors expected,” adding that the country’s gross domestic product is expected to grow by 3% this year. Russia has strengthened its technological sovereignty and is in a position…