Iranian military planners are preparing an extensive retaliatory strike against Israel that could employ enhanced warheads and sophisticated weaponry, according to Iranian and Arab officials familiar with the planning who spoke to The Wall Street Journal. The warnings emerge in defiance of American diplomatic pressure to avoid escalation, though analysts remain divided on whether…
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday that Ukraine was essentially sabotaging the process of exchanging prisoners of war, Reuters reports. Zakharova said that Russia’s defence ministry had offered Kyiv to hand over 935 Ukrainian prisoners of war but that Ukraine had taken only 279. “Russia has never refused to have…
Kemi Badenoch is the new Conservative party leader after defeating Robert Jenrick in a members’ vote, becoming the first Black leader of a major UK party and the fourth woman to lead the Tories, The Guardian reports. Badenoch took just over 56% of the 95,000 votes, in a poll that had a 73% turnout…
Members of the National Assembly Standing Committee on European Integration are participating in the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC) for the third time. According to the Parliament, this year’s conference is being held in Budapest because Hungary is the presiding country. The presidency term lasts six…
On November 1, Ambassador Lilit Makunts participated in the Diwali reception at the U․S․ Department of State, where Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma delivered remarks. Earlier this week, Ambassador Makunts also participated in the “Lighting a Diya” Ceremony along with the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard…
In the aftermath of catastrophic flooding in eastern Spain, residents in Alfafar, a suburb outside the city of Valencia, faced scarcity as they navigated muddy roads and struggle to access water and basic supplies on Friday (November 1), Reuters reports. Footage showed various vehicles in a tangled wreckage strewn across rail tracks and a…
Israel’s air force pounded Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh overnight, destroying dozens of buildings in several neighborhoods, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said Friday, The Washington Post reports. There was no immediate word on casualties. Recently, Israel has intensified its airstrikes on the northeastern city of Baalbek and nearby villages, as well as…
The US commends Armenia and Azerbaijan for formalizing the rules of procedure for border delimitation, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has said in a post on X. “The U.S. commends Armenia and Azerbaijan for formalizing the rules of procedure for border delimitation, demonstrating that progress is possible through sustained dialogue. We support both sides’ work…
The Georgian Prosecutor’s Office announced that it is investigating 47 criminal cases linked to incidents before and on the day of the recent parliamentary elections, 1tv.ge reports. These cases involve alleged election falsification, voter bribery, interference with voting rights, obstruction of journalism, election commission disruptions, pre-election violence, and property damage. The investigations were…
State prosecutors in Georgia say they have launched an investigation into opposition allegations of “falsification” in recent parliamentary elections won by the governing Georgian Dream party, Al Jazeera reports. The prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Wednesday that it has also summoned President Salome Zourabichvili, who has repeatedly said the vote count was…
United States National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has been urging China, which maintains relations with North Korea, to put pressure on Pyongyang to withdraw North Korean troops from Ukraine’s front line, CNN reported on Oct. 29, citing a U.S. official. According to the unnamed official, Sullivan “directed the US government to engage the PRC…
An investigation has been launched in Georgia over alleged fraud in the parliamentary elections. In this regard, President Salome Zourabichvili was summoned for questioning, according to the Georgian Prosecutor’s Office. Thus, the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia, based on the Central Election Commission’s appeal of October 30, launched an investigation into alleged fraud in the…
At least 51 people have been killed in flash floods sweeping the eastern Spanish region of Valencia following torrential rain on Tuesday that left roads and towns under water, local authorities said on Wednesday (October 30), Reuters reports. Eyewitness videos from Alfafar region showed drivers moving slowly through inundated roads on Tuesday evening as…
At night, Russia carried out new strikes in the direction of Ukraine with an unknown missile launched from the Belgorod region, as well as 62 ‘Shaheed’ strike and unknown drones, the Air Force of Ukraine reported. According to the source, the target of the Russian missile was the private sector in the Sumy region….
Reuters. Drone footage from the Kharkiv regional prosecutor’s office showed massive destruction in a residential neighbourhood on Tuesday (October 29) after local officials reported a Russian bomb killed four in the area. Reuters was able to confirm the location from the position, shape and design of the buildings and walls seen in the video…
Reuters. Sheikh Naim Qassem was named as Hezbollah’s new leader today, October 29. Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general Sheikh Naim Qassem has been a senior figure in the Iran-backed movement for more than 30 years. Born in 1953 in Beirut to a family from Lebanon’s south, Naim Qassem’s political activism began with the Lebanese Shi’ite…
“European Union integration remains our primary foreign policy priority, and Hungary’s role in this process is invaluable,” said Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze at the joint briefing with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Georgian Public Broadcaster reports. According to the PM, he is grateful to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for visiting Georgia. …
The Georgian people went to the polls on Saturday in an election environment shaped by the ruling party’s policies, including misuse of public resources, vote buying, and voter intimidation, US State Department Spokesperson Matthew A. Miller stated during the Department’s Press Briefing. “This contributed to an uneven playing field and undermined public and international trust…
A new assassination attempt was made on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. This was announced by the politician himself. According to him, the attempt was carried out in October, when a man with a loaded pistol tried to go to an event dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Carpathian-Duklin military operation. Fico believes…
Armenia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan sent a message of thanks to his outgoing colleague Gabrielius Landsbergis of Lithuania for the support shown to Armenia. “Dear friend Gabrielius Landsbergis, I want to thank you for your contribution to strengthening bonds and partnership between Armenia and Lithuania, support towards Armenia’s stronger engagement with EU….
The trial of French actor Gerard Depardieu on sexual assault charges opened on Monday in the absence of the celebrity, who had declared himself to be ill, RTE reports. His lawyer, Jeremie Assous, had said earlier that Depardieu, 75, was “extremely affected” by ill health, and that he had asked for proceedings to be…
The first session of the Georgian parliament will proceed as usual, and the government will be approved. This will happen despite the opposition’s refusal to recognize the election results, states Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, as quoted by Echo of the Caucasus. “For all these years, they have never been able to accept the…
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has said its peacekeepers have withdrawn from a post near the southern Lebanese village of Dhayra after being fired upon by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers earlier this week, National Herald reports. According to a UNIFIL statement dated 25 October, Friday, the incident occurred on…
Several thousand North Korean soldiers have arrived in Russia’s western Kursk region, where they are expected to participate in a coming counteroffensive meant to dislodge the Ukrainian troops who have occupied a portion of the region since August, one Ukrainian and two American officials said on Friday, The New York Times reports. The North…
Two soldiers of the Iranian army were killed in an Israeli attack on Iranian territory, Mehr reports. Early Saturday morning in the Iranian capital Tehran, air defense forces in Tehran province were mobilized to counter enemy targets. According to a spokesperson for Tehran province’s air defense public relations department, the sound heard in…
Speaking to journalists on the plane back from the BRICS meeting in Kazan, Recep Erdogan commented on his meeting with Russian President Putin and responded to the question of whether he noticed a new will in Putin to end the war in Ukraine, BTA reported. “As in our meeting with the President of Ukraine…
European Union Ambassador to Baku Peter Michalko was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan. “A note of protest was sent to him in connection with the adoption of the resolution by the European Parliament on October 24, and the baseless and biased statements made by the European Commissioner within the framework of…
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday (October 25) reiterated his economy minister’s comments on pushing for swift progress on talks for a free-trade agreement between India and the European Union during his keynote address at the 18th Asia-Pacific Conference in New Delhi, Reuters reports. Adding that if they would work on the agreement together,…
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia congratulated the people and Government of Kazakhstan on the occasion of the Republic Day. “Our heartfelt congratulations to the people and government of Kazakhstan celebrating Republic Day. Armenia looks forward to further developing future-oriented strategic cooperation between Yerevan and Astana based on mutual respect and trust,” the statement…
European Parliament adopted a resolution on the situation in Azerbaijan, violation of human rights and international law and relations with Armenia. 453 deputies voted in favour of the resolution, 31 voted against, 89 abstained. It highlights the deteriorating situation with human rights in that country, condemns Azerbaijan’s actions against Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, describing…
