Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat—Saudi Arabia’s stock market has witnessed a significant decline of 21.5 percent, after peaking 90 days ago, following a sharp drop in oil prices after OPEC announced it would not be cutting output earlier this week. Saudi Arabia’s stock market peaked at around 11,200 po
Shanghai, Reuters—Fifteen people were killed when a group threw explosives into a crowded street where vendors were selling food in China’s restive region of Xinjiang, the official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday. Eleven were attackers who were killed by the police, the agency said, and 14
Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—Yemen’s Islamist Al-Islah party and the Shi’ite Houthi movement reached an unprecedented deal on Friday to end hostilities, a political source told Asharq Al-Awsat. The Al-Islah party have been among the Shi’ite movement’s biggest political
The price of Brent crude fell below 72 US dollars a barrel yesterday, dragging down the GCC stock markets. Oil experts predicted that the prices would drop below 60 dollars a barrel in the coming months. It is normal to feel a sudden sense of unease. Everyone in the Gulf will be asking: What will [&
Cairo, Reuters—An Egyptian court on Saturday dropped its case against ousted President Hosni Mubarak, his interior minister and six aides on charges of ordering the killing of protesters during the 2011 revolt that removed him from power. The court also cleared Mubarak and a former oil minister of g
Hong Kong, Reuters—Thousands of pro-democracy activists clashed with police in running scuffles in Hong Kong’s gritty Mong Kok district early on Saturday in a bid to reclaim part of one of the city’s largest and most volatile protest sites. After a tense standoff lasting hours, chaos eru
Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—The Houthi movement’s control of the capital Sana’a has significantly deteriorated Yemen’s ability to secure its borders, Yemeni Transport Minister Badr Mubarak Ba-Salma said. In comments to Asharq Al-Awsat, Ba-Salma, who was appointed earlier this month following the a
Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat—Fourteen rebel factions in Aleppo, in the north of Syria, are seeking to form a joint military command to coordinate attacks against Syrian government forces, local opposition sources have told Asharq Al-Awsat. Efforts to unify rebel ranks in the eastern and northern pa
Paris, Asharq Al-Awsat—Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shokri has placed the responsibility for reconciliation between Doha and Cairo squarely on Qatar’s shoulders—saying “the ball is not in Egypt’s court.” His comments come soon after the signing of an agreement in Riyadh that restored
Kano, Reuters—Gunmen set off three bombs and fired on worshipers at the central mosque of north Nigeria’s biggest city Kano for Friday prayers, witnesses said, an attack that bore the hallmarks of Islamist Boko Haram militants. It was not immediately possible to determine a reliable deat
Tunis, Asharq Al-Awsat—Tunisia’s defense ministry has denied reports of receiving official requests to cooperate with the US in striking Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) positions in neighboring Libya. Speaking exclusively to Asharq Al-Awsat, Ministry of Defense spokesman Belhasan Al-Waslati p
Beirut, AP—Syrian rebels backed by the United States are making their biggest gains yet south of the capital Damascus, capturing a string of towns from government forces and aiming to carve out a swath of territory leading to the doorstep of President Bashar Al-Assad’s seat of power. The advan
Istanbul, Reuters—Pope Francis begins a visit to Turkey on Friday with the delicate mission of strengthening ties with Muslim leaders while condemning violence against Christians and other minorities in the Middle East. His three-day trip comes as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) insurgents ha
Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—On the surface, the city of Fallujah, which remains completely under the control of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), appears to be a ghost-town. However a closer look at Anbar province’s second-largest city reveals that the situation in the city has become r
There has been no official announcement, but the negotiations that started in Geneva last year may have landed Iran with two governments. The de jure government is headed by “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenei and his entourage acting behind a façade that includes the presidency and the Islamic Majlis (par
Despite the recent leaks about a controversial plan to solve the crisis in Syria, there are strong indications that there are no solutions in sight and that the international community is still floundering regarding how to deal with the Syrian conflict. The resignation, or sacking, of US Defense Sec
London, Reuters—Brent crude oil plunged more than $6 a barrel on Thursday, the sharpest one-day fall since 2011, after OPEC decided not to cut production despite a huge oversupply in world markets. Asked whether the oil producer group had decided not to reduce production, Saudi Arabian Oil Min
Kabul, Reuters—A suicide bomber attacked a British embassy vehicle in the Afghan capital on Thursday, killing five people including one Briton, officials said. The blast in the east of Kabul wounded 33 people, including many bystanders, the latest in a wave of bombings to hit the city as the majorit
Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat—Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) interior ministers have issued guidance on establishing a joint Gulf police force, set to be based in Abu Dhabi, to boost security cooperation among member states. The joint GCC police force has been dubbed a “Gulf Interpol” an
Moscow, Asharq Al-Awsat—Moscow has proposed a new round of negotiations, dubbed Geneva III, between the Bashar Al-Assad government and the Syrian opposition, during a state visit to Russia by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Mouallem, well-informed Russian sources told Asharq Al-Awsat. The cal
