Jerusalem, Reuters—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, threatening to punish the Palestinians for unilateral moves towards statehood, said on Sunday Israel was willing to press on with US-brokered peace talks but not “at any price.” Netanyahu did not immediately specify what actio
Kabul, Reuters—A bigger-than-expected turnout in Afghanistan’s presidential election and the Taliban’s failure to significantly disrupt the vote has raised questions about the capacity of the insurgents to tip the country back into chaos as foreign troops head home. The Taliban claimed t
London and Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat—Syrian rebels bombarded the capital of Damascus on Saturday and Sunday, as government forces continued their attacks on rebels in Aleppo and the Damascus suburbs. The capital Damascus was the scene of several mortar attacks over the weekend as the opponents of the
Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—Iraq’s parliamentary speaker and leader of the Mutahidoun bloc, Osama Al-Nujaifi, accused the Iraqi security forces of conspiring with sectarian militias to exclude Sunnis from the forthcoming elections on Saturday. Following a meeting with religious scholars, Nujaifi issued
Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Reuters—Barclays has agreed to sell its retail banking operations in the United Arab Emirates to Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) for an expected price of 650 million Emirati dirhams (177 million US dollars), ADIB said on Sunday. The emirate’s largest Islamic bank said it aim
Tokyo, Reuters—The United States moved on Sunday to reassure Tokyo over its mounting security concerns, saying it would send more missile defense ships to Japan following North Korean launches and use a high level trip to warn China against abusing its “great power.” Japan has watched wi
Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat—The General Assembly of the Syrian National Coalition, the main Western-backed anti-Assad opposition group, began electing a new political authority during a meeting in Istanbul on Saturday. The meeting is expected to end on Sunday, as fighting between Syrian rebels and gover
Kabul, Asharq Al-Awsat—The world’s attention once more turned to Afghanistan as its citizens headed to the polls Saturday in presidential elections. Thirteen years after an international coalition led by the United States ousted the Taliban government, Afghanistan remains troubled by violence
The Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia, have lived through a painful experience, with terrorist groups lasting more than a decade, during which time a brutal campaign of bombings and suicide attacks led to the deaths of dozens of Saudi and foreign victims. As a result of the solutions implement
In times of crisis, the security solution must take priority over other solutions. However, after a state has overcome an individual crisis, it must also be victorious in the overall conflict. If not, the result will be a failed state, as in Somalia, Libya or Iraq. The victory of the state in this c
Beirut and London, Asharq Al-Awsat—Samir Geagea, the head of the Lebanese Forces Party, publicly announced his intention to run for the presidency on Friday, with many analysts believing that the veteran Maronite politician has a strong chance of succeeding Michel Suleiman as Lebanon’s next head of
Cairo, AP—Al-Qaeda’s leader called on fighters to determine who killed his chief representative in Syria, a man many militant groups believe died at the hands of a rival militia, in a move that highlighted a conflict between rebels that has killed hundreds. In a thinly veiled criticism of the
Rio de Janeiro, AP—More than 2,000 Brazilian soldiers stormed into a Rio de Janeiro slum complex Saturday with armored personnel carriers and helicopters in a bid to improve security two months before the start of the World Cup. As dawn broke, the heavily armed soldiers entered the sprawling Maré sh
London, Asharq Al-Awsat—A spokesman for US-based Boeing said Friday that it had received approval to sell aircraft parts to Iran, as part of the partial easing of US sanctions against the Islamic Republic agreed in the interim nuclear deal last November. The spokesman, representing the world’s large
Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—Iraqi parliamentarians said Friday that the government is seeking to send a draft law to parliament that would allow the announcement of a state of emergency ahead of elections scheduled for April 30. Iraqi parliamentary rapporteur Mohamed Al-Khalidi told Asharq Al-Awsat tha
Aleppo, Asharq Al-Awsat—There were so many things that felt wrong on the road into Aleppo. We sped along the highway, swerving to avoid the potholes and then swerving again to avoid the oncoming cars, past the scorched date palms and the vehicle carcasses that were a reminder of what might happen if
Kabul and Kandahar, Reuters—Voting was largely peaceful in Afghanistan’s presidential election on Saturday, with only isolated attacks on polling stations as a country racked by decades of chaos embarked on its first-ever democratic transfer of power. A roadside bomb killed two policemen and w
London, Asharq Al-Awsat— Moroccan novelist Abdelrahim Lahbibi’s name was not very familiar to Arab readers before his third novel, The Journeys of ’Abdi, Known as the Son of Hamriya, made it onto this year’s shortlist for the much-vaunted International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF). Neither of Lah
Kabul—Today, after Kabul and most of the other major cities in Afghanistan turned into ghost towns over security concerns, Afghans are going to the polls to choose their next president. Despite the insecurity, it is hard to miss out on the opportunity to participate in this opportunity for change th
Jeddah, Asharq Al-Awsat—The Saudi aviation market has been making the rounds in the media recently. A large country with a domestic market catering for 25–30 million passengers a year, Saudi Arabia enjoys rising incomes and a corresponding rise in air travel demand. The government decided to d
