As oil prices fall to their lowest level in 11 years, the Saudi government yesterday announced a budget with the most cautious oil price in 10 years despite it facing the problem of the current decline and volatility in oil prices by reducing its dependence on oil revenues. This is a move that analy
The famous quote “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics” attributed to Benjamin Disraeli and Mark Twain among others may not sound true now as it used to in the past; statistics, as a science, has advanced a lot since then. Thus, it may be beneficial to take seriously some
Several Paris sources revealed that the remains of one of the perpetrators of last month’s terrorist attacks in Paris was buried in a private ceremony with a few participants. Samy Amimour was one of three men who participated in the Bataclan concert hall bloody massacre last November. Amimour was r
Below is an extract of an interview held with the Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who is also Iraq’s former Prime Minister, about the current atmosphere in Iraq. • What is going to happen after the Arab ministerial meeting, and the positive support for Iraq against the Turkish
Israeli political sources revealed that Russia’s special envoy to Syria, Alexander Lavrentie, secretly paid a visit to Israel last Thursday, and met senior officials of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs in addition to a Mossad official at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. Haare
Informed Iraqi sources, in a phone call, told Asharq Al-Awsat’s London bureau, that former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has intervened as a mediator to guarantee the release of the Qataris who were kidnapped two weeks ago in southern Iraq. Sources said that the request for al-Maliki’s interv
The day after the Russian foreign minister made an impolite statement whilst sitting next to the Qatari foreign minister announcing the failure of their meeting to classify terrorist groups from amongst the Syrian opposition, warplanes which are believed to be Russian killed the leader of Jaysh Al-I
British authorities yesterday announced the deployment of around 900 soldiers to help evacuate hundreds of people trapped by floods in the northern regions of England. Cities in the north of Britain experienced high rates of flooding which the Prime Minsiter David Cameron described as “unprecedented
Informed sources in Yemen yesterday confirmed that the problem of political prisoners held captive by the rebels will be solved soon, after the relative progress made by the Yemeni consultations in Switzerland earlier this month. The sources believe that the Houthis will next week release those who
Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdel-Malek al-Mekhlafi said that 70 percent of Yemeni territory is under the control of the legitimate government. FM al-Mekhlafi also told Asharq Al-Awsat, “Current ground status is under the legitimacy’s dominance, given that 70 percent of land is under the government’s co
Recently crowned Heavyweight British boxing champion Tyson Fury finds himself fighting the world in a ring of heated statements made by him. Two years before Fury was telling an interviewer before his first fight at Madison Square Garden that he would “hang” his own sister if she was promiscuous. Wh
A Shiite politician revealed on Saturday to Asharq Al-Awsat that conflict is running deep among the ranks of the Popular Mobilization Forces, threatening to rift the Iran supported armed group in Iraq. The independent politician, in a phone call interview, adds that dispute is rising on who should b
Jaysh al-Islam to Asharq Al-Awsat: Political solution compromised, after Russians Killed Alloush United Nations special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura announced the third Geneva peace convention would be held Jan. 25, after the assassination of Zahran Alloush, leader of Jaysh al-Islam, which urg
Sulaiman Asharee, the general supervisor for the referral programme at the Saudi Ministry of Health, revelead to Asharq Al-Awsat that 2763 wounded members of the national Yemeni army and the Popular Resistance have been admitted to Saudi hospitals and have been treated and cared for. He explained th
Yassin Makkawi, a Yemeni presidential adviser, revealed to Asahrq Al-Awsat a few secret consultations that took place last week in Switzerland between the legitimate government delegation and the rebels in the Houthi- Saleh alliance that are known as the Geneva 2 consultations. Makkawi, one o
Drone owning Americans are rushing to register their names with the Federal Aviation Administration’s official website, causing heavy traffic on the website, which later shut down after the registration of 50, 000 names. FAA Officials announced that they are expecting the numbers to rise to half a m
Iraq’s top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called for the release of a group of Qatari hunters kidnapped in the south of the country, his representative said on Friday during a sermon before prayers. “We demand that all kidnapped people be released no matter who they are,” Ahmed al-Safi
Russia stepped up its confrontation of the moderate military opposition yesterday when it targeted the leader of Jaysh Al-Islam Zahran Alloush in raids which killed him and a number of the organisation’s leaders. Activists said that the airstrikes were carried out by the Russians and targeted a meet
Zahran Alloush, the head of Jaysh al Islam, one of the most powerful rebel groups fighting in the suburbs of Damascus, was killed in an aerial raid that targeted his group’s headquarters. . They said a secret headquarters of the group, which is the largest rebel faction in the area and has tho
Well informed political sources revealed that Iran withdrew Revolutionary Guard units in Syria, moving them to Iraq after Russian- Iranian dispute escalated in Syria. An Iraqi political source, who requested anonymity, told Asharq Al-Awsat that Russia wants the Syrian battlefield exclusively to itse
