London–The year 2016 saw very shy efforts to introduce political reforms in the Middle East, according to the Annual Review of World Affairs, issued by the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS). The report, which was issued earlier this week, said that frustration and despair prevailed
Jeddah-Houthis have launched a campaign to politicize religious sermons in areas that fall under their control. They also began forcing mosque preachers to announce loyalty to the rebels, which compelled most supporters of the legitimate government to refrain from attending Friday prayers and most p
Algiers-The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will convene on Wednesday on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum, which gathers oil producers and consumers. Many countries are hoping that this consultative meeting would result in an international agreement on the nee
Palm Springs-Cinematographer Barry Ackroyd knows what Director Paul Greengrass wants without having too much talk during shooting; they have cooperated in three movies: “United 93” (2006), “Green Zone” (2010), and “Captain Philips” (2013); but what mostly matters about those two is that they both be
Former Israeli president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres died early Wednesday, some two weeks after suffering a major stroke. He was 93. Peres died in his sleep at around 3:00 am, Rafi Walden, who is also Peres’s son-in-law, told Agence France Presse. He had been surrounded by family
Riyadh, Aden-A Yemeni bank official uncovered that the rebel-controlled Central Bank in the capital Sana’a was financing fictional import operations that have contributed to supporting what Houthis call “war efforts.” Member of the Yemeni Central Bank Board of Directors Shakib Hubaishi told Asharq A
Tel Aviv-Human Rights Watch has responded to the efforts exerted by Palestinians to draw condemnation to Israeli settlements. The organization issued a strongly-worded statement, in which it accused Israel of using occupied Palestinian lands unlawfully and to exploit them as sports clubs for settler
Riyadh-The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud received at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh on Tuesday princes, the Kingdom’s Grand Mufti, scholars, ministers, and a group of citizens who came to greet him. The audience was attended by Prince Bandar bin Mohammad bin
Beirut-The Bashar Assad regime has launched what was likely to be the “last phase” of the massacre in Aleppo with a sectarian momentum and with the participation of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, the so-called Lebanese Hezbollah, and a new Iraqi Shi’ite “armored” faction which is financed by Bagh
Thirty-three bodies were found on Tuesday as a wreck of boat that sank off Egypt last week with hundreds of migrants aboard was recovered from the depths, raising the confirmed death toll to 202, a local official said. The boat sank off the Mediterranean coast on Sept. 21. Rescue workers and fisherm
Republican senators pressed FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday about whether anything more could have been done to prevent recent acts of extremist violence, including the Orlando nightclub massacre and the Manhattan bombing this month. Comey said the FBI is fallible and transparent about its mista
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday called for the urgent evacuation of many sick and wounded people locked in embattled parts of eastern Aleppo. The international body stressed the need of establishing safe routes for evacuation to take place. The Syrian military launched a major campaig
Turkey welcomed the withdrawal of a large number of fighters of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) from the northern Syrian town of Manbij to the east of the Euphrates River. Meanwhile, the Syrian Democratic Forces confirmed that it had withdrawn from the Manbij countryside towards th
The television audience for the first U.S. presidential debate between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump looks set to approach 80-million viewer record for such events set in 1980, early Nielsen data cited by U.S. media suggested on Tuesday. But initial data from the four main bro
According to Taliban sources, Afghan security forces killed a high-ranking leader of the Pakistani Taliban and at least 10 other activists in an operation on the border with Pakistan on Sunday. Raees Khan, also known as Azam Khan Tariq, was considered the fourth most important leader of the Pakistan
Colombia – Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the left-wing FARC rebel Leader Timoleon Jimenez (Timochenko) signed on Monday an agreement ending a half-century war that killed a quarter of a million people and made their nation a byword for violence, after more than four years of gruel
Riyadh- An official in one of the companies operating telecommunication services in Saudi Arabia confirmed that the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) coordinated with Saudi telecommunication companies to set controls that lead to rationalizing internet consumption, which is
Riyadh – Under the chairmanship of Dr. Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr, the Yemeni government is working on renormalizing the conditions, providing services for citizens and finalizing the preparations to move the Yemeni Central Bank to Aden, following the issuance of the presidential decree few days ag
Riyadh – The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chaired the Cabinet’s session at al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh on Monday. The King issued four Royal decrees ordering the reduction of salaries of ministers by 20% and salaries of Shura Council members’ by 15%. The
Pro-Syrian regime forces were mobilizing on Tuesday for a ground offensive in Aleppo after attacking on four fronts in their largest assault since launching a bloody campaign to retake the whole city last week, a senior rebel official said. Separately, an Iraqi militia commander fighting in support
