According to a local official, 56 armed Shiite factions in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, sow terror among the Sunni population yesterday, he told Asharq Al-Awsat. Member of Diyala Provincial Council, Ali al-Daini, said that overlooking the daily crimes committed in the cities of the provinc
The French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius yesterday announced that the European Union will discuss during the course of this week “whether there is a need to impose new sanctions” on Iran after ballistic missile tests were carried out. This statement came a day after the US Department of the Treasu
In response to the mocking caricature drawn in the French magazine Charlie Hebdo showing the Syrian refugee who died on the shores of Turkey last September after his family failed in their attempt to reach Greece, Queen Rania posted a drawing on her Twitter and Facebook accounts with the question “W
There are more than a million people who represent a free gift to extremist groups, residing in Europe and far away from the refugee camps they left behind. Extremist groups reached Europe before them and enjoy more freedom of expression and community activity. Some of the refuges who came in search
BEIJING – China intends to retain a balanced stance in the Middle East, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Monday, as President Xi Jinping prepared to leave on an unusual visit this week to Saudi Arabia and Iran, regional powers currently locked in a bitter dispute. Tensions between the Sunni M
RAMADI – Snipers from Iraq’s elite counter-terrorism unit lie on their bellies on a rooftop in eastern Ramadi. They scan the palm groves 300 metres away for signs of movement but find none. Moments earlier, a 2000-pound bomb dropped by a U.S.-led coalition plane hit a vehicle on the othe
RAMADI, Iraq, Jan 18 (Reuters) – When ISIS militants fleeing the Iraqi military’s advance in Ramadi tried to force Mohammed Nafaa to follow them across the city for the fourth time in as many months, he and his family hid inside and hoped to be left alone. After the militants retreated a
GENEVA – Five people have starved to death in the last week in the Syrian town of Madaya, where a single biscuit sells for $15 and baby milk costs $313 per kilo, despite two emergency United Nations aid deliveries to the besieged town, a UN report said. Local relief workers have reported 32 de
ABU DHABI – The European Union will discuss this week whether it needs to impose new sanctions on Iran following recent ballistic missile tests, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Monday, a day after the United States announced such measures. Washington imposed sanctions on 11 comp
BERLIN – Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos said Turkey was not doing enough to reduce the number of migrants arriving in Europe and accused Turkish port officials of helping people smugglers, drawing a denial from Ankara on Monday. Turkey reached a deal with EU officials late last year to k
Abdullah al-Siri, Former Yemeni Ambassador to Tehran, said that Iranian police department has partaken in opening up the embassy center of Yemen, after it had been evacuated due to Yemen cutting diplomatic ties with Iran last October. Moreover, it has supported the insurgents in Yemen by finding the
Information that US President Barack Obama’s administration deferred the announcement of new sanctions for a month in order to ensure the return of its prisoners was disclosed yesterday. A day before the American administration was scheduled to impose sanctions, the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad
Last Sunday, after Iran’s success in striking a deal with the West on its nuclear suit, it successfully arrived to its implementation day. However, observers stressed on the necessity of Tehran avoiding mislaying the commitment through any mistake that could jeopardize the nuclear deal, which has fi
Hours after international sanctions linked to Iran’s nuclear programme were officially lifted, US President Barack Obama’s administration imposed new sanctions on Iran yesterday because of its development of ballistic missiles. Under the new sanctions, the US treasury has included 11 Iranian compani
Attacks in Yemen moved north, specifically targeting Sana’a, after a series of attacks that had already ripped through the Southern city of Aden despite it being freed, with militants being driven out ridding it from insurgency. Only 24 hours after assassinating Bashar al-Moayed, Houthi field leader
Few hours separate Saudi Arabia from the official launch of the most prominent projects in energy sector in the country, on Wednesday, Jan. 20. The projects expected to enhance the capabilities of the Kingdom on the diversification of energy sources in one hand and to provide supplies to global mark
Former US Ambassador Ryan Crocker stated that Saudi Arabia and the US still stand together today, just as they have done so for the past 70 years, and declared that “we will not allow for anything to drive us apart, or separate us”, he pointed out the necessity of weighing in greater efforts in orde
Yemeni Presidential Advisor, Ahmed bin Dagher, revealed that Ismail Ould Cheikh, UN envoy to Yemen, failed to convince the insurgents to get back to the talks with the legitimacy’s delegation, until now. That and the settings of the next session remain unclear, taking into account the fact that the
GAZA – Qatari-funded construction projects have provided 1,000 new dwellings for Palestinians left homeless by the 2014 Gaza war with Israel, and a similar number for low-income families in the territory, officials said on Saturday. The Gulf state’s contribution is the sole significant s
BERLIN – A prominent ally of Germany’s Angela Merkel threatened on Saturday to take her government to court over its “open doors” refugee policy as political pressure grows for the chancellor to reduce the number of new arrivals. Bavarian state premier Horst Seehofer said he
