Author: Mideast discourse

Dozens of moderators were reportedly told to reapply for another position with a third-party labor provider or look for a new job Accenture, an Irish-US firm that provides contract workers for Facebook, has told some 60 people doing hourly jobs for the tech giant that their contracts are about to expire, Business Insider reported on Thursday. Some claimed they were told that an algorithm had picked them for termination. The bad news about the looming layoffs was broken by Accenture during a Tuesday video meeting and a follow-up call the next day, the news outlet said. The workers were reportedly…

Russian Foreign Ministry said that Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold talks with Syrian Foreign and Expatriates Minister, Fayssal Mikdad, in Moscow on August 23rd. “Talks between the two ministers will deal with prospects of developing the Russian-Syrian relations on all levels,” Deputy Director of the Foreign Ministry Information and Press Department Ivan Nechayev said in a statement. He added the two sides will also discuss the situation in Syria, the latest regional and international developments as well. Source: SANA

It is reported that efforts are underway to establish the cause of the fire An ammunition depot in Russia’s Belgorod Region caught fire on Thursday, regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said, adding that no casualties had been reported. “An ammunition depot near the Timonovo settlement in the Valuisky Urban District caught fire. According to the latest reports, there are no casualties. The district’s head ordered the residents of the Timonovo and Soloti settlements to be evacuated to a safe distance. Response teams are working on the scene, efforts are underway to establish the cause of the fire,” the governor wrote on…

Prime Minister Viktor Orban says he doesn’t believe the West can win militarily in Ukraine and argues that sanctions are failing The deadly conflict in Ukraine has the potential to “demonstratively” put an end to Western hegemony globally, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has claimed. In an interview with German online magazine Tichys Einblick, published on Thursday, Orban said he expects the European Union to emerge weaker in the global arena once the fighting in Ukraine is over. The Hungarian leader argued that the West is incapable of winning the conflict militarily, and that the sanctions it has imposed on…

Trade talks are expected between Taiwan and the US in the fall in light of the ongoing arms trade between the two, and China stresses the necessity of terminating the sales. Beijing has warned of further action if the US continues to supply more arms to Taiwan and conducts naval activity near the island of Taiwan, which comes in light of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit earlier this month, prompting Chinese military drills. Washington’s top envoy for East Asia, Daniel Kritenbrink, disclosed to reporters on Thursday that US policy had not changed, adding: “what has changed is Beijing’s growing coercion.”, calling Beijing’s words…

On August 18, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced that it had carried out three attacks on the Turkish military in response to recent strikes on northern and northeastern Syria. The most recent wave of Turkish strikes on northern and northeastern Syria, which took place on August 16, claimed the lives of five SDF fighters, four soldiers of the Syrian Arab Army and a civilian. In response to the strikes, SDF attacked three targets of the Turkish military on the border line near the Turkish cities of Karkamıs, Mardin and Urfa. The first target was a T-155 Fırtına 155 mm…

Planes equipped with Kinzhal projectiles have been deployed to the country’s western exclave of Kaliningrad, Moscow says Three Mig-31 supersonic interceptor aircraft carrying Kinzhal air-to-surface hypersonic missiles have been deployed to Russia’s western exclave of Kaliningrad, the country’s Defense Ministry has announced. On Thursday, the planes were relocated to Chkalovsk airfield in Kaliningrad Region as part of “additional strategic deterrence measures,” the ministry explained. During their flight, the Mig-31s worked out interactions with Russian forces stationed in the area, as well as the naval aviation of the Baltic Fleet, it added. The planes, armed with Kinzhal missiles, will be placed on 24/7…

Last night, Russian missiles hit a temporary base of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the town of Zatoka in the Odessa region. According to unconfirmed reports, the facility hosted Ukrainian servicemen and foreign mercenaries, hundreds of whom were reportedly killed. The Russian Ministry of Defence did not mention the strikes in the Odessa region in its daily briefing on August 18. Source: South Front

On August 17, videos showing Russian Mi-8AMTSh and Ka-52 helicopters flying over key bases of the US-led coalition in Syria’s northeastern region surfaced online. The helicopters flew over two bases of the coalition, the first located in the towns of Himo in the northern al-Hasakah countryside and the second near the town of al-Malikiyah in the northeastern countryside of the governorate. The Mi-8AMTSh is a lightly-armed assault transport helicopter, while the Ka-52 is a fully-fledged attack helicopter. Both helicopters dropped flares while passing over US bases. The US-led coalition maintains a network of bases in northeastern Syria, most of which…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid had a phone conversation on Wednesday after the two countries announced a decision to mutually reinstate ambassadors for the first time since 2018. During the phone talk, Erdogan hailed the progress of Türkiye-Israel relations within the framework agreed upon during the visits of Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid to Ankara, the Turkish presidency said in a statement. Erdogan said that he supports the development of cooperation and dialogue between Israel and Türkiye on a sustainable basis of mutual respect, and Türkiye would take immediate…