ASHARQ AL-AWSAT: The visit of SG Ban Ki-moon to Lebanon stirred political reviews, particularly concerning the issue of Syrian refugee resettlement. Are there any plans on ground for this? SCL SIGRID KAAG: No, none whatsoever. It is always surprising how this came about. It is probably a good insigh
WASHINGTON- Senator Marco Rubio called on Wednesday for a change in U.S. policy toward Cuban immigrants, pursuing end benefits providing to those refugees who are coming from the island only for economic reasons. In a senate speech, the Florida Republican said “In essence, our existing law tre
Ashton B. Carter, Defense Secretary, is in a visit to Asia this week and planning to stopover in India and in Philippines to strengthen bonds that could serve USA in hard times. Mainly the talk has focused on the South China Sea, where tensions remain high as China has deployed surface-to-air missil
TOKYO – South Korea’s top party has lost its majority in the National Assembly, halting a blow to President Park Geun-hye through complicating the path and making it a lot tougher for her to advance her legislative agenda. The results came as a surprise by the time many analysts were exp
Manama-Senior Bahraini official revealed that a council, which is formed of GCC countries and the United States, is working on uniting the procedures and finding legal tools to fight terrorist organizations, topped by ISIS and the so-called Lebanese Hezbollah. The official, who asked to remain anony
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the Turkish military struck targets from the ISIS terrorist organization in Syria on Wednesday in retaliation after four rockets that hit the southeastern Turkish border town of Kilis for the third straight day on Wednesday. Davutoglu said in a speech the Turkish
The news that a bridge will be built over the Red Sea connecting Saudi Arabia to Egypt and therefore the two continents of Asia and Africa has attracted the attention of many people because it is a historic step with political and economic implications. In the same context of regional relations, the
Oil prices have slipped further on Wednesday after a much bigger than expected rise in weekly U.S. crude inventories, and on concerns that a producer meeting scheduled for Sunday in Doha to discuss freezing output will do little to trim glut. Brent crude was down 62 cents at $44.07 per barrel at 143
Dubai-For the fifth consecutive year, Arab youth consider Saudi Arabia as their country’s major ally, highlighting their continued trust in the Kingdom as regional tensions peak, according to the findings of the 8th Annual ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey, which was released on Tuesday in
London- Two weeks after the announcement on dispatching ground forces missioned for an advisory role in Syria, media in Iran circulated the reported death of a number of the sent troops, who have been killed in battles taking place in Aleppo. Iranian general and commanding officer of the ground forc
A meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) foreign ministers began in Istanbul yesterday in preparation for a summit scheduled to take place during the next two days. A draft final statement mainly tackling the issue of Iranian interference in Arab countries is on the table and it ca
London- Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister and former Permanent Envoy to the United Nations Faisal Mekdad announced that the Syrian regime is prepared to enter rounds of direct negotiations with the Syrian Opposition. The anticipated talks are to be held in Geneva. Mekdad denied rumoring possibilities o
Freedom House, a Washington-based human rights advocacy organization, which publishes a global freedom index every year, put out a report on the health of democracy in the post-Soviet world. In its report, the organization portrayed a bleak picture of the state of liberal values in parts of Europe,
The World Bank will deliver the first $1 billion tranche of a $3 billion loan to Egypt after parliament approves the government’s economic program, World Bank vice president Hafez Ghanem said at a news conference late Tuesday, assuring that the loan will not be delayed. Parliament is expected
The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz held official talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the second day of his visit to Turkey yesterday. They discussed bilateral relations between the two countries and international issues. King Salman said in a speech during the s
Riyadh- After lashing downpour flooded several areas of the country, the Saudi Education Department decided to suspend the education process on all levels and close down schools as of Wednesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and all other associated governorates. Mubarak Al-Osaimi, spokesman of the ministr
Aden- Houthi delegation spokesman Mohammed Abed Alsalam stressed that his deputation no longer considers ceasefire a mere truce, but rather a serious step taken towards ending war comprehensively. In statements he gave to Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, Abed Alsalam accused “war mongers”-as he would call
The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz’s visit to Egypt resulted in 17 economic agreements being signed. These included agreements on the demarcation of borders and building a historical bridge linking Egypt and Saudi Arabia. However, the most important thing to come o
Egypt has undergone many changes; it used to be a monarchy in the eras of Kings Fouad and Farouk, turned into a revolutionary republic, then a communist one, was later ruled by Sadat, Mubarak and then the Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi. Despite the changes in Egyptian leaders and their poli
Beirut-The Court of Appeal in Beirut ratified the ruling issued by Criminal Judge, Wael Sadeq, to release seven detainees for attacking Asharq Al-Awsat offices in Beirut, preventing journalists from exercising their work. The attackers are Bilal Allaw, Hussein Ali Nassereddine, Mohammed Mahmoud Hirz
