Ramallah- The Fatah-led Palestine congress ended its sessions for government committees, after extensive revision of the work achieved over the last few years. The doors for running for central posts at the Fatah movement have opened again, soon after meetings concluded. Elections will take place on
Cairo- U.N. envoy to Libya Martin Kobler told Asharq Al-Awsat that he was still optimistic on the possibility of Libya regaining stability, unity and peace. For the second time in less than a month, Kobler arrived in Egypt for meetings with various parties on the Libyan crisis. The U.N. envoy said t
London- Iran threatened on Friday to retaliate against a U.S. Senate vote to extend the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) for 10 years, saying it violated last year’s deal with six major powers that curbed its nuclear program. “As repeatedly stated by high-ranking Iranian officials, the recent bi
London- The crisis of Kenya’s arrest of two Iranians, who have been charged with collecting information for a terrorist act after filming the Israeli Embassy in Nairobi, grew on Friday after Tehran called for their immediate release. According to Reuters, Iranian news agencies said the Kenyan ambass
Tunis- The Italian embassy has said that Rome will contribute to the implementation of Tunisia’s Development Plan for the years 2016-2020, with a sum of €360 million, of which 260 million will be credited, 100 million in the form of a grant as well as additional resources for the reconversion
OPEC will meet non-OPEC countries to finalize a global oil limiting pact on Dec. 10 in Vienna, two sources told Reuters on Saturday. Two OPEC sources earlier said the meeting was due to take place in the Russian capital Moscow, but later said that plan had changed. OPEC agreed this week to reduce ou
Washington- U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s term in office will likely be the most difficult for Tehran amid a report that his transition team is examining proposals for sanctions on Iran separate from its nuclear program. The Financial Times quoted congressional sources as saying that transitio
Aleppo- The United Nations said on Friday that nearly 20,000 children have fled their homes in battered east Aleppo in recent days, warning that time is running out to provide them with the help they desperately need. The U.N. said some 31,500 people had fled their homes in opposition-held east Alep
The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz issued several royal decrees on Friday. Among the orders was the reformation of the kingdom’s Shoura Council. The Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia, also known as Majlis Ash-Shura or Shura Council, is the formal advisory body of Sau
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called for an immediate ceasefire in Syria on Friday, describing the situation in Aleppo as critical and saying that regime head Bashar al-Assad was unfit to rule. Asked about Assad at a news conference in Beirut, Cavusoglu said it was undeniable that the Sy
The Peshmerga ministry spokesman Halgurd Hekmat revealed on Thursday that 1600 Peshmerga soldiers have been killed since the major offensive to regain the city of Mosul began on the 17th of October. Hikmat added that nearly 10,000 members of the Peshmerga were wounded in the fierce fighting that has
Tunisian security forces dismantled 160 terror cells in the first 10 months of this year, about 45 percent more than during the whole of 2015, the interior ministry said on Friday. Tunisia has been the only Arab state to achieve a relatively peaceful democratic transition since the Arab Spring upris
If he is to deliver on his promise to liberate Mosul by the end of this year, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi has only a few weeks to meet the deadline. As things stand on the many different fronts of this strange war, however, signs are that Iraq’s third largest city may have to wait […
The situation of hospitals in Taiz has become grave as a result of the blockade of the province that continues to be imposed by the rebels. Yemen’s Minister of Local Administration and the Chairman of the Higher Committee for Relief Abdul-Raqib Saif Fath called on “The Humanitarian Coordinator
The Turkish capital Ankara hosted talks between the Syrian opposition and Moscow that were attended by Turkish officials. The talks were devoted to the latest developments in Aleppo and halting military operations in the east of the city. According to available information, those taking part in the
Ankara- The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Republic of Turkey have officially signed eight cooperation agreements encompassing a number of investment areas. Collaboration was decided during the Saudi-Turkish Joint Business Council held on the sidelines of the seventh Bosphorus summit being hosted at Tu
London- Brazil, South America’s strongest economy, had been experiencing great suffering over the last few years due to a shrinking economy and scandals of corruption that were short to a stab to the Brazil government. Even the national oil giant, Petrobras, a semi-public Brazilian multinational cor
Europol said on Friday that ISIS is likely to carry out new operations in the European Union in the near future, adding that terrorist groups are evolving their tactics to attack soft targets in the EU. “Estimates from some intelligence services indicate several dozen people directed by ISIS m
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday he has picked the tough-talking retired general, James Mattis, to be his defense secretary as he returned to his campaign roots in his first major public appearance since Election Day. The splash of hard news came during a sea of soaring — and th
During the United States’ recent presidential campaign, one charge levelled against the Republican nominee Donald Trump was that he may be a sort of “Manchurian candidate” for Russian leader Vladimir Putin, pulling the strings from the Kremlin. The Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton even dropped
