OSLO – Norwegian police are looking at 20 suspected war criminals from Syria, following tips from refugees and local immigration authorities, a police official told Reuters. Some 10,500 Syrian asylum seekers reached Norway in 2015, a third of all the country’s asylum seekers last year. &
JAKARTA – This week’s militant attack in the heart of Indonesia’s capital at first appeared to bear the hallmarks of recent spectacular strikes by ISIS: a meticulously planned, multi-stage assault designed to sow confusion and take many lives. But things may not have gone completel
MOSCOW – Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Friday a new objective of Russian forces in Syria was to provide humanitarian aid, Reuters reported. Russian air force planes have delivered 22 tonnes of aid in the region around the eastern Syrian city of Deir al-Zor, a ministry official said i
LISBON- Authorities in the seven Portuguese islands, Azores have warned of hurricane Alex that was the first hurricane to form in January since 1938 and closed in on the North Atlantic islands on Friday morning. Hurricane Alex toppled trees, cut power and flooded some homes in the Azores on Friday,
The ruling issued by Beirut Military Court to release Michel Samaha, who was the Information Minister from 1992 to 1995, in exchange for a bail payment of 150 million Lebanese pounds ($99,463), appaled politicians and civilians in Lebanon. Prominent officials from March 14 Coalition denounced the co
Washington- Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes has warned that the political transition process in Syria is going to fail unless the President Bashar al-Assad’s departure is part of the political process. Rhodes said during a meeting with foreign correspondents, last night in Washington, th
A Gulf source said yesterday that the kidnappers of the Qataris who were seized in the desert of Samawa in the Al-Muthanna province which is located in southern Iraq last month have stipulated a new condition for their release. The source added in a telephone interview with Asharq Al-Awsat that the
Middle East bourses fell sharply yesterday as investors cashed out after Brent crude oil slipped below $30 a barrel and global markets resumed selling off. The Saudi index tumbled 3.3% to close at 5,838 points, its lowest finish since March 2011, after a heavy wave of sales in the final hour of trad
BASRA, Iraq- Iraq sent an armoured army division and a police strike force into the southern oil city of Basra to disarm residents at a time of escalating clashes between rival Shiite Muslim tribes, a local official and three security sources reported on Friday. Major oil producer, OPEC gets the maj
The comments made by the Chief Commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Mohammad Ali Jafari about the training of around 200,000 fighters in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan sparked Arab and regional disapproval. The spokesman for the Yemeni government Rajeh Badi told Asharq Al-Awsat tha
After four rounds of voting, Moroccan-Dutch Khadija Arib of the Labor Party came out as the winner with 83 of the 134 valid votes and became new chairwoman of the House of Representatives. Her appointment followed the resignation of Anouchka van Miltenburg, who stepped down in December over the Teev
ANKARA – NTV reported on Friday that Turkish security forces detained 12 academics accused of signing a declaration calling for renewed efforts to end violence between government forces and Kurdish separatists. The declaration condemns the government’s conduct of recent violence in the predomi
ISTANBUL – On a normal winter’s day, Ramazan Uslanmaz would lead two groups of tourists around Istanbul’s historic Sultanahmet district, from the towering minarets of the Blue Mosque to the labyrinthine alleyways of the Grand Bazaar. But since a suicide bomber walked into a group o
CAIRO – Egypt’s national defence council on Thursday extended its military’s participation in a Saudi-led operation in Yemen for up to one year, the presidency said in a statement, according to Reuters. Egypt is part of a Saudi-led coalition that has been targeting Iran-backed Hout
TIKRIT – ISIS militants briefly took control of a northern Iraqi village on Thursday, forcing out police and pro-government fighters and underlining the fragility of the state’s hold on the territory, Reuters reported. The army retook Tal Kusaiba hours later in a counter- attack, though
ANKARA – Turkish tanks and artillery have bombarded ISIS positions in Syria and Iraq over the past 48 hours, killing almost 200 of its fighters in retaliation for a suicide bombing in Istanbul, Reuters quoted Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as saying on Thursday. An ISIS suicide bomber, who ent
As fuel prices collapsed, the Russian government announced it was preparing to cut its expenses by 10 per cent in order to avoid bankruptcy of the country, similar to what happened in 1998. “The basic principle of our policy remains that it must live within its means, including reducing spending and
BEIRUT – A former Lebanese minister who is close to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was released on bail on Thursday after serving a jail term for smuggling explosives into Lebanon from Syria and planning attacks, the national news agency said. Former Information Minister Michel Samaha was se
NEAR MADAYA – Aid was sent on Thursday to a Syrian town blockaded by pro-government forces and two villages besieged by rebels for the second time this week, and a U.N. official said he hoped to make more deliveries to areas where people are starving. Dozens of trucks left Damascus for the tow
A series of explosions has rocked the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, with gun battles on the streets. Up to seven blasts and multiple gunfights hit the Indonesian capital Jakarta, today. The blasts were centered on Thamrin Street, a major shopping and business district close to foreign embassies and t
