Author: Steven Sahiounie

According to the Syrian Arab News Agency, special services dismantled the drone, which they managed to detect and shoot down north of the city of Al Qunaitra. The Syrian Army has intercepted a drone loaded with cluster bombs over Jebel al-Sheikh near the Golan Heights, the Syrian Arab News Agency said on Saturday. In addition, Syrian intelligence agencies discovered a stash of weapons, ammunition, medicine, food, and equipment produced in Israel, in the village of Barika in the suburbs of Quneitra. ​The incident comes two days after another drone interception over the Damascus suburb of Aqraba. Israel seized control of the Golan…

Kuwait has raised the security alert level at all of its ports, including the oil terminals, the state-run KUNA news agency reported on Friday, citing Trade and Industry Minister Khaled Al-Roudhan. “The decision emphasizes that all measures have to be taken to protect the vessels and the ports’ facilities,” it said. The announcement comes after two important oil production facilities in neighboring Saudi Arabia were hit by drones and missiles on September 14, curtailing the crude output of the world’s top oil exporter, Reuters said. Yemen’s Houthi group claimed the attacks but a US official said they originated from southwestern Iran.…

The European Union has said British and EU negotiators have agreed to continue discussions aimed at ending the Brexit impasse, as the talks appear to be gaining momentum. On Friday, the European Commission said that the technical talks are focused on “a first set of concepts, principles and ideas that the United Kingdom has put forward.” The EU has demanded that Britain put forward written proposals on how to keep goods flowing smoothly across the Irish border without costly and time consuming checks once Northern Ireland leaves the bloc along with the rest of the UK. The commission says “it is essential…

by Tim Korso US President Donald Trump earlier gave a green light to a “moderate” American military deployment to Saudi Arabia to protect it from possible future attacks coming from Iran. The decision came soon after both the kingdom and Washington accused the Islamic Republic of attacking Saudi Aramco facilities, despite Tehran denying this. The US has redeployed the USS Nitze destroyer to the northeast coast of Saudi Arabia in a bid to “plug the gap” in Saudi Arabia’s air defences that was allegedly used in the 14 September raid on its oil facilities, CBS reported. The redeployment comes in line with previous…

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) resumed their attack on the northeastern countryside of the Latakia Governorate today, targeting a number of jihadist sites around the town of Kabani. According to a field report from the 4th Armored Division, the Syrian Army repeatedly struck the jihadist defenses around Kabani this afternoon, causing heavy damage to the fortifications of the Turkish Islamic Party and Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham. The report said the Syrian Army heavily concentrated its artillery and surface-to-surface missiles on the jihadist bases and tunnels that have been constructed around Kabani The recent surge in attacks by the Syrian Army on…

US President Donald Trump has defended his demand from Ukraine’s president to investigate Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden over influence-peddling allegations linked to his son, Hunter. In a pair of tweets on Saturday, Trump reiterated that Biden’s links with Ukraine needed to be investigated, emphasizing that the former vice president had persuaded the country to fire a top prosecutor in 2016. Trump complained that media corporations were avoiding coverage of the Biden’s Ukraine scandal. “The Fake News Media and their partner, the Democrat Party, want to stay as far away as possible from the Joe Biden demand that the…

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey is fully prepared for a possible operation on the border with Syria to push back militants from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in case the United States fails to create a so-called safe zone in the northeastern part of the Arab country this month. “Our preparations along the border have been completed,” Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul on Saturday ahead of his flight to New York to attend a UN General Assembly meeting. He roundly criticized the continued support of the US for the YPG, saying Washington was providing the Kurdish militants with…

Media group Rossiya Segodnya and Huawei’s consumer business group’s branch in Russia have signed a strategic cooperation agreement. The parties agreed to jointly implement initiatives aimed at developing technologies for the production and distribution of media content, including through the use of specialized mobile platforms. “The signing of an agreement with Huawei, one of the leaders in the global communications market, will be a significant step in developing and strengthening the common information space of Russia and China,” Rossiya Segodnya’s head of international cooperation, Vasily Pushkov, said after the signing ceremony. He noted that the media group has been working…

Terrorists  in the province of Idlib in northern Syria are blocking local residents from entering the territory controlled by the government through the recently re-opened Abu al-Duhur checkpoint, Syrian Army Brig. Gen. Nabil Abdullah, who is responsible for organising the humanitarian corridor, said on Friday. “According to intelligence, a lot of people want to leave this zone, but the terrorist groups in Idlib are blocking the humanitarian corridor. The roads leading to the checkpoint are blocked, residents are not allowed to leave under the threat of execution. In fact, the militants hide behind civilians and use them as a living…

In a press conference Friday evening, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford announced the US would be sending “hundreds” of US troops, as well as additional air defense capabilities, to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. “The president has approved the deployment of US forces which will be defensive in nature and primarily focused on air and missile defense,” Esper told reporters at the Pentagon. He noted that the US doesn’t seek war with Iran, but “has other options” as well. He said that a “layered defense” could better…