Breaking News, 16th of September, 2018

Municipal elections took place in Syria for the first time in seven years. The elections will not affect the entire country due to the lack of control over a number of territories. However, more than 6,500 polling stations will be opened in the country. The polling stations will also function in the liberated villages and towns of the provinces of El Quneitra and Deraa. The polling stations opened at 07:00. The voting will end at 19:00. If necessary, the High Judicial Commission may extend it for 5 hours. More than 40,000 candidates compete for 18,478 seats in municipal councils. In Damascus there are more than 4,000 candidates, in Aleppo — about 3,500. The Ministry of Local Government announced that Syrian citizens should choose such candidates that will fulfill their duties in the forthcoming period of the reconstruction of the country. In order to participate in the elections — the citizens only need to show their passport.

Alexander Kharchenko, our reporter in Damascus, reports that the Israeli Air Forces attacked Syria once again. The Syrian media reported that the targets of the Israelis were the military facilities on the Syrian air force base, near the airport of Damascus. Presumably, the objects of pro-Iranian formation are based in this region. Apparently, the air strike was performed from the airspace of Lebanon. Syrian air defense forces managed to shoot down part of the enemy missiles.

London will not be able to impose sanctions on Russia related to the «case of Skripals» before the UK leaves the EU, The Telegraph reports with a reference to British Security Minister Ben Wallace. The minister spoke to the parliament and explained that the British sanctions can’t be applied «until the UK leaves the EU.» The new law presupposes a mechanism for imposing sanctions that are separate from the European Union. Whether this law can be applied in practice after the formal exit of the UK from the EU on 29th March 29, 2019, or the end of the transitional period that will last up until 31st of December of 2020 — Ben Wallace did not specify. His statements caused discontent in the parliament. Earlier, London announced an intention to apply the «Magnitsky amendment», adopted in May, on Moscow, as well as some new sanctions because of the alleged involvement of Russia in the poisoning of the Skripals.

In the near future, Donald Trump will announce the introduction of new custom duties on the import of Chinese goods and services worth of $ 200 billions of dollars, The Wall Street Journal reports with a reference to their sources. Previously, the size of duties should have been 25%, but the administration decided to reduce them to 10%. The final details are still being worked out. The publication underlines that Donald Trump can raise tariffs in his further pressure on Beijing.

At least 28 people died because of the typhoon «Manghut» in the Philippines. Most of the people died from landslides in mountain regions in the north of the country. About 105,000 people remain in temporary shelters. 150 flights were canceled, one third of which were international. The Philippines, Vietnam, the Chinese province of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao are at risk of suffering significantly from the typhoon. According to forecasts — the typhoon will reach China and Hong Kong by the evening.

The head of «Naftogaz» Andrei Kobolev announced that Ukraine can lose about $ 3 billions of dollars because of the «Nord Stream-2». «If we won’t have the gas transit — it will open a door for a Russian invasion in Ukraine. This is not only a matter of money for Naftogaz or Ukraine, but also a matter of security. Not only our security, but also security of the EU » — Andrei Kobolev added. He underlined that the gas transit through Ukraine will cease to exist. Kobolev called the amount of possible losses, $ 3 billions of dollars, to be «huge» — it makes 3% of Ukrainian GDP. Previously, Peter Poroshenko said that the money that Ukraine makes from the transit of Russian gas are being spend on defense.

Constantine Reztsov, specially for ANNA NEWS.