Asharq Al-Awsat Editorial

Editorial desk and wire-service reports (AFP, Reuters, AP) as published in the Asharq Al-Awsat English Edition. This archive preserves the original text (2005–2017); attribution appears in the article dateline where provided by the source.

articles
World

A Year After the Coup, Where is Turkey Heading?

Paris – A year after the coup attempt that almost ousted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, where is the country heading? How did Turkey change with the intensified internal cleansing operations launched by the president that sent tens of thousands to jail? What are Turkey’s plans in Syria? Why

World

Saudi Airline Says US Laptop Ban Lifted

Saudi Arabia’s national carrier said a ban on laptops and tablets in the cabins of its US-bound planes had been lifted on Wednesday. The kingdom’s civil aviation authorities informed Saudia that the ban had been lifted after a US team inspected security measures at airports in Riyadh and

French Military Chief Quits over Macron Budget Cuts

French leader Emmanuel Macron faced the biggest crisis of his young presidency on Wednesday following the resignation of the military chief after a heated dispute on defense budget cuts. The row between Macron and General Pierre De Villiers blew up last week when the chief of the defense staff told

Police Confirm Identity of Swiss Glacier Couple

DNA tests have established that the remains found on a receding Alpine glacier last week were of a couple missing for nearly 75 years, Swiss police said Wednesday. “The remains recovered on the glacier have been formally identified,” police in Valais canton (state) said in a statement.

World

Filing Away the Qatari Crisis … Temporarily

Forty-five days have passed since Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt took their measures against Qatar. A Kuwaiti mediation tried and strove to resolve the crisis, but the isolated party ensured its failure from the very beginning when it leaked the demands of the four Arab co

Arab World Countries Taken over by Searing Heatwave

“Punishing dog days,” “blazing heat,” and “skin darkener” are terms gaining popularity in the Arab world as temperatures soar to unprecedented degrees, ushering in the worst summer heatwave yet. Mid-July till the end of August have long been the hottest days during the year for the Arab world. Saudi