Saudi Arabia, like all other oil exporting countries, has lost 50 percent of its national revenues since the price of oil fell sharply, leveling out at around 60 US dollars per barrel. However, this shocking state of affairs is transitory. The Saudi government is wealthy enough to compensate for the
Dubai, Asharq Al-Awsat—In 2007, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and constitutional monarch of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, launched an ambitious eight-year plan, the Dubai Strategic Plan 2015, aiming to make Dubai a smart, environmentally friendly, and sustainable c
Kabul, AP—The United States and NATO formally ended their war in Afghanistan on Sunday with a ceremony at their military headquarters in Kabul as the insurgency they fought for 13 years remains as ferocious and deadly as at any time since the 2001 invasion that unseated the Taliban regime foll
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—As Damascus said it was ready to participate in Russian-backed “preliminary consultations” in Moscow aimed at restarting peace talks next year to end the Syrian conflict, opposition Syrian National Coalition President Hadi Al-Bahra said that “no formal initiatives&
London, Asharq Al-Awsat—Controversial US lawyer Stanley Cohen has found himself in the international headlines on a number of occasions this year. He defended Osama Bin Laden’s son-in-law, Sheikh Suleiman Abu Ghaith; he defended himself in another courtroom on tax charges, ultimately ple
Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—The Houthi movement has asked for tribal arbitration in its dispute with the country’s powerful Al-Ahmar tribe, after Houthi fighters carried out raids of homes and property belonging to the head of the tribe and other prominent members in the southern Amran province th
Jakarta, Reuters—Indonesia’s air force was searching for an AirAsia plane carrying 162 people that went missing on Sunday after the pilots asked to change course to avoid bad weather during a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore. Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501, an Airbus 3
Erbil, Asharq Al-Awsat—Following an Amnesty International report that women and girls of Iraq’s Yazidi minority forced into sexual slavery by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have committed suicide or tried to, Asharq Al-Awsat spoke with a Yazidi girl who escaped ISIS custody about h
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—Egypt’s Salafist Nour Party aims to secure 25 percent of seats at the forthcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for early 2015, a senior party member told Asharq Al-Awsat. “The Nour Party is seeking to secure 25 percent of the seats of the forthcoming parliament, whi
War is war, with blood, wounds, captivity, bereavement, anxiety, deception, resolution and reluctance. It has been like that throughout history, from the time of bows and spears to the age of F-16 fighter jets and Tomahawk missiles. We have all heard about the international coalition which has been
Beirut/Cairo, Reuters—Syria said on Saturday it is willing to participate in “preliminary consultations” in Moscow aimed at restarting peace talks next year to end its civil war. But members of the Western-backed Syrian opposition dismissed the Russian plan on Saturday, saying ther
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—Libya’s Western-backed Tobruk-based government warned that rival Islamist militias are seeking to seize complete control of the country’s oil industry, calling on the UN Security Council and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to take all necessary measures to p
Seoul, Reuters—North Korea accused the United States on Saturday of being responsible for Internet outages it experienced in recent days amid a confrontation between them over the hacking of the film studio Sony Pictures. North Korea’s main internet sites experienced intermittent disrupt
Islamabad, AP—Pakistani warplanes and ground forces killed 39 militants as part of an ongoing operation in a volatile tribal region near the Afghan border, the Pakistani military said. The airstrikes were carried out Friday evening in the Datta Khel area of the North Waziristan tribal region,
Erbil, Asharq Al-Awsat—Approximately two million Iraqi citizens, mainly from the country’s central and western governorates, sought refuge from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan in 2014, an official from the Iraqi Ministry of Displaceme
Perhaps it is premature to talk about the success of Tunisia’s democratic experiment in the aftermath of the “Arab Spring”. The jury is still out following the announcement of the results of the first truly democratic presidential elections in Tunisia which has generally been accepted as fair and so
During his recent Arab tour Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani proudly stated that his country’s political influence extends from Lebanon and Syria to Iraq and Yemen. However Larijani did not need to emphasize this fact, which is something that is equally well-known to those who back Tehran
Kiev, Reuters—Kiev and pro-Russian separatists began an exchange of hundreds of prisoners of war on Friday, a state security service source said, part of a 12-point peace plan. The agreement to swap 125 Ukrainian servicemen for 225 rebels followed peace talks between envoys of Ukraine, Russia,
Khobar, Asharq Al-Awsat—Saudi Arabia announced its largest-ever budget on Thursday, with projected spending of 860 billion riyals—5 billion riyals more than estimated spending in 2014—despite a sharp drop in oil prices resulting in a projected budget deficit of 145 billion riyals.
Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—Houthi movement fighters on Thursday escalated attacks on Yemen’s state institutions and officials, including taking control of the headquarters of the civil aviation authority, in actions that one government official said threatened to void the UN-sponsored peace deal
