Paris – At 8:00 pm on Sunday night, French television channels will display the image of the new president of the country who will succeed Francois Hollande and lead the country for the next five years. Up until this moment and if opinion polls are to be trusted, all indications point to centrist Em
Brussels- President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani has stressed the importance of the consolidation of ties between Tunisia and the EU, calling for joint action to achieve peace and development. “We are all together in the Mediterranean basin,” Tajani told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper. “That
Washington- The Pentagon will ask the White House next week to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan to break a deadlocked fight with the Taliban, a senior official has said. After a steady downsizing of US troop numbers since 2011, US military commanders say they need to strengthen the numbers
London – Iran’s outgoing president Hassan Rouhani was fiercely attacked by conservative rivals on Tuesday after which he accused Tehran’s elite Revolutionary Guard of sabotaging the nuclear deal with its ballistic missile program. In the second televised presidential debate, Rouhani said
Ramallah – Hamas concluded on Friday the latest phase of its internal elections, which are aimed at choosing a successor to Khaled Meshaal to head the movement’s politburo. The internal elections saw fierce competition between former Hamas President Ismail Haniyeh and Moussa Abu Marzouk, Hamas polit
For the past few days the official media in Moscow and Tehran have hailed a scheme unveiled in Astaneh, Kazakhstan, as “a peace plan for Syria.” For the Russian media, credit for the new scheme goes almost exclusively to President Vladimir Putin who is thus cast as a peacemaker. Iranian media, howev
Washington- The Transportation Security Administration has warned that terrorists could resort to vehicle-ramming as ISIS media is sending signals to Muslims in the US on how to commit terrorist attacks. The TSA has told the trucking and busing industries to watch for terrorists who might be prepari
Washington – Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said the White House’s decision on making Saudi Arabia President Donald Trump’s first international visit since he took office sends a powerful message on how important Saudi-US ties are. In an exclusive presser held at Saudi embassy in Washin
Beirut – Head of the Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea blamed Iran for several regional conflicts, saying that it acts against the legitimacy of those countries. He told Asharq Al-Awsat on Friday: “Where ever Iran puts its finger, problems follow.” In Yemen, he said, there was a slow political process, w
London- London’s Heathrow airport briefly suspended departures from one of its terminals on Friday for security reasons, an airport spokeswoman said. She said the suspension at terminal 3 had been caused by “a security issue” but did not elaborate. “Departures were suspended
Rome- The UN food agency has said that a global crisis in food supplies is causing even more migrants to cross borders. “Each one percentage increase in food insecurity in a population compels 1.9 percent more people to migrate,” a new report by the World Food Program (WFP) said Friday.
Britain and the United States have warned that the Boko Haram extremist group was preparing to kidnap foreigners in remote northeast Nigeria. The Foreign Office in London said Friday it had received reports the militants were “actively planning” to seize foreign workers in the Bama local
The main Syrian opposition umbrella group criticized a Russian proposal to establish “de-escalation zones” in Syria as vague and illegitimate and said it rejected the role of Iran as guarantor in any deal. The Riyadh-based HNC, which includes political and armed groups, cautioned against
Iranian officials said Friday there was “no chance” of saving nine coal miners trapped for the past two days after a tunnel collapse that has already claimed at least 26 lives. Toxic gases have filled much of the Zemestan Yort mine in northern Iran, and rescue workers face a painstaking
A United States Navy SEAL was killed and two troops wounded in a clash with al Shabaab militants in Somalia, US officials said on Friday. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the man killed was a US Navy SEAL. It was not immediately clear whether the wounded US forces were also fr
Russia announced on Friday that it had ceased bombing in areas of Syria set to be designated safe zones under an agreement it inked with Iran and Turkey. However, Russia also said the proposed “de-escalation” zones in Syria will be closed to aircraft from the United States-led coalition.
London – Gabriel and Arsenal falter under pressure, Crystal Palace have a problem with fan behavior, Sunderland must keep Didier Ndong while Hull’s Harry Maguire continues his excellent form: 1) Palace fans throwing objects gives cause for concern Sean Dyche laughed off the fact James Tarkowsk
Greenpeace activists unfurled a political banner in broad daylight on the Eiffel Tower in Paris creating security concerns among the city’s police ahead of Sunday’s presidential elections. Paris’s police chief called emergency talks after a dozen activists from the advocacy group climbed the n
The German government said on Friday it would bar Turks from voting on any Turkish referendum on reintroduction of the death penalty anywhere within its borders – a measure proposed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after July’s failed army coup attempt. Last month, Erdogan expressed his
Into the deadly morass of the Syrian war, Russian President Vladimir Putin has dropped a new peace proposal that calls for establishing safe zones in several parts of the country, grounding the Syria air force and possibly creating buffer zones between combatants to be monitored by international pea
