Thousands of students were evacuated from five high schools in Paris on Tuesday morning after receiving a bomb threat over the telephone as anonymous calls were made claiming bombs had been hidden in the buildings, the Paris education authority said. The five schools received practically identical c
The head of the Syrian opposition’s negotiating team said the upcoming peace talks brought no hope, casting further doubt on whether the group will attend meetings planned for Friday in Geneva. According to Arabic news channel Al-Hadath, Assad al-Zoubi said that recent diplomatic moves “
The United Nations special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura announced yesterday that the new round of peace talks aimed at solving the Syrian crisis will begin on Friday in Geneva and will continue for six months. Invitations will be given out today (Tuesday) and the talks will be begin on the 29t
As a part of Saudi Arabia’s efforts to diversify its economy beyond oil, national oil giant Saudi Aramco has signed a memorandum of understanding to found a shipbuilding and repair complex in the kingdom, the company said on Tuesday. With the current decrease in oil prices, Riyadh is coming up with
Venezuela- Reports issued by Western security and intelligence sources have stated that a number of people belonging to Iranian groups and the Lebanese Hezbollah, with suspected links to terrorism, are moving freely in the United States and Latin America using Latin passports like the Venezuelan and
A scoundrel policeman that has been collaborating with insurgents in southern Afghanistan shot dead 10 of his colleagues in the early hours of Tuesday after first poisoning their food, an official said. This crime is the latest in a long series of so-called insider attacks. It took place at a checkp
Talks on ending the war in Syria are expected to start on Friday and take six months, although invitations have still not been sent due to “intense disagreements”, the U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura told a news conference on Monday. “There are political risks. And you will hea
Several thousand Tunisian police marched to the presidential palace on Monday to demand more pay in the latest challenge to Prime Minister Habib Essid’s government after a week of protests and riots over jobs. Tunisia’s security forces are at the forefront of the country’s war with
About 300 people gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Monday, not to celebrate the instigators of the revolt that five years ago overthrew Egypt’s longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak but to praise the police who tried to stop them. “We are here to celebrate with our brothers, fathers, and
Libya’s internationally recognised parliament voted on Monday to reject a unity government proposed under a U.N.-backed plan to resolve the country’s political crisis and armed conflict. Of 104 members attending the session in the eastern city of Tobruk, 89 voted against backing the gove
European Union interior ministers on Monday urged Greece to do more to control the influx of migrants, some threatening to exclude it from the continent’s prized passport-free travel zone as the crisis increasingly divides the bloc’s members. Greece was the main gateway to Europe for mor
At a time when the people of the city of Tebah (around 48 Palestinians) prepared their homes and orchards to face the frost and the icy winds, a large force of Israeli police arrived and demolished two houses on the pretext they were built without a license, displacing inhabitants in the open. The d
In an interview published in this newspaper on Saturday, the Iraqi Defence Minister Khaled Al-Obaidi said that Iraq’s current government “has announced its political favouritism by opening up to all Arab brothers without exceptions”. The minister specifically talked about Saudi Arabia saying that it
ALGIERS – Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has dissolved the long-standing military spy directorate known as the DRS, creating a new agency under the control of the presidency in another step to ease the military out of politics, security sources said. Bouteflika, rarely been seen in pu
Aden- Informed sources have revealed for Asharq Al-Awsat that there is a joint network for the Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the Houthi rebels with al-Qaeda, which controls the coast of Hadhramaut province east Yemen. The sources said that the network is engaged in smuggling and trading in
Adidas AG, German Sportswear Company, will be ending an 11-year sponsorship deal with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) almost four years early, the BBC reported on Jan. 24. According to Reuters, the BBC reported that Adidas, the biggest sponsor of the sport’s gover
Riyadh, on Sunday evening, launched the activities of the ninth international competitiveness forum for 2016. The forum has been successfully launched under the patronage of The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and will entitle “Sector Competitiveness” amid important indi
ANKARA – The European Union’s foreign policy chief said on Monday she was “very confident” the bloc would deliver a promised 3 billion euros ($3.2 bln) in assistance to Turkey to help stem migrant flows, despite the funding being blocked by Italy. EU leaders agreed to the aid
BEIRUT- Syrian peace talks meant to begin this week were stalled on Monday partly over the question of who would represent the opponents of President Bashar al-Assad. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he expected clarity within a day or two, and expressed support for the United Nations envoy w
BEIRUT – Syria’s opposition will meet on Tuesday to discuss U.N.-led efforts to convene delayed peace talks, an opposition spokesman said, repeating a call for goodwill steps from the government including a halt to bombardments before any talks happen. The United Nations is trying to con
