London, Asharq Al-Awsat—Iran’s oil minister said on Monday that his country will increase its crude oil output despite the US-led sanctions against the country’s energy sector. Iran has an “extensive plan” to bolster its oil production capacity, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said in an interview in Tehran w
London, Asharq Al-Awsat—Iran’s team of nuclear negotiators headed to Vienna on Monday for the next round of international talks over the country’s nuclear program, as anger mounted in Iran at EU criticism of its human rights record. Iran’s team, led by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, headed t
Kiev and Donetsk, Reuters—Police detained 70 people occupying a regional administration building in eastern Ukraine overnight, but pro-Moscow protesters held out in a standoff in two other cities in what Kiev called a Russian-led plan to dismember the country. Kiev says the seizure of public buildin
Abu Dhabi and London, Asharq Al-Awsat—The second biannual Global Aerospace Summit began in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Monday, drawing in some 1,500 industry executives, senior decision makers and government officials from 55 countries around the globe to discuss some of the most pressing is
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—With his old-fashioned oud, timeworn face and tired fingers, the 74-year-old musician Zakariya Ahmed wanders among the tables at coffeehouses in the historic Al-Husayn district in Cairo hoping to find an audience for his singing. Despite some disappointments, he has retained a
Iraqi MP Hanan Al-Fatlawi banged her hand on the table during a TV program on which she appeared, speaking angrily but effortlessly, and said: “For every seven Shi’ites killed, we want seven Sunnis [killed] in their place.” Of course, the seriousness of the situation which compelled Fatlawi to make
Vienna, Reuters—Iran said it hopes enough progress will be made at talks with major powers this week to enable negotiators to start drafting by mid-May a final accord to settle a long-running dispute over its nuclear program. The Islamic Republic and six world powers will hold a new round of talks i
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—It is almost impossible to start a conversation inside the narrow, dark corridors of the elections office in Giza. The place is teeming with those who have come to support the nomination of the now-former army field marshal, Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, as his campaign attempts to ga
Kabul, Reuters—Preliminary tallies from Afghanistan’s presidential election showed former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah leading in parts of Kabul on Monday but, with ballot counting likely to last weeks, it was far too early to predict a winner. The two other frontrunners complained of fr
Jerusalem, Reuters—US efforts to save Middle East peace talks from collapse showed little sign of progress on Monday amid threats from Israel to retaliate for what it saw as unilateral Palestinian moves towards statehood. The US-brokered negotiations plunged into crisis last week after Israel, deman
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—Three people were killed and 10 injured on Sunday following tribal feuds between Arab and Nubian clans in the city of Aswan in Upper Egypt. Clashes between the Arab Hilayel clan and the Nubian Daboud clan in the tourist city broke out on Friday, and have so far left 23 d
Kayseri, Reuters—Turkey’s central bank governor hinted at interest rate cuts for the first time in a year on Monday, but said they would be gradual and the bank alone would decide on their timing. The head of the Bank, Erdem Basci, spoke three days after Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan called fo
Kigali, AP—Sorrowful wails and uncontrollable sobs resounded Monday as thousands of Rwandans packed the country’s main sports stadium to mark the 20th anniversary of the beginning of a devastating 100-day genocide. President Paul Kagame and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon lit a flame at the K
Amman, Asharq Al-Awsat—A Syrian refugee died from injuries sustained in disturbances at the Zaatari refugee Camp in northern Jordan on Saturday morning. Jordanian authorities and camp residents exchanged accusations over who was responsible for the disturbances in the camp, which houses over 1
Tripoli and Benghazi, Reuters—Libyan rebels occupying four eastern oil ports agreed with the government on Sunday to gradually end their eight-month petroleum blockade which has cost the North African state billions in lost revenues. Zueitina and Hariga ports, held by federalist rebels demandi
Gauhati, AP—India started the world’s largest election on Monday, with voters in the remote northeast making their way past lush rice paddies and over rickety bamboo bridges to reach the polls. Most parties were campaigning on promises of economic growth. The country’s 814 million electo
The Israeli government should not have shelled Hezbollah posts and is mistaken in defining the group as an enemy. This is the opinion of columnist Guy Bechor, writing in the Israeli daily, Yedioth Ahronoth. Bechor believes that President Bashar Al-Assad currently only governs one-fifth of Syria, and
The year 2050 may seem very far away, but it will come sooner than we expect. Tomorrow will be on us sooner than we might think—and what a tomorrow it will be. It must be fate that the week of the release of new Hollywood blockbuster Noah coincided with an announcement of the dangers that [&he
London, AP—Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah scored one goal and played a part in the other two as Chelsea strolled to a 3-0 victory over Stoke to recover from back-to-back losses and reclaim the provisional Premier League lead Saturday. Even though Jose Mourinho downplays Chelsea’s title prospect
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—Libyan militiamen raised the flags of Al-Qaeda in the town of Derna, eastern Libya, in a display of force in defiance of the central government on Saturday. An organization called the Islamic Youth Shura Council—based in Derna, a stronghold of extremist Islamist groups i
