http://www.aawsat.com/english Asharq Alawsat English Edition is your insight into the Middle East en-us © 2005 Saudi Research and Publishing Sat, 03 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT 1 http://www.aawsat.com/english http://www.aawsat.com/english/images/aaaeng.gif 144 33 Asharq-e delivers up-to-the-minute news and information on the latest stories, weather, entertainment, politics in the Middle East http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=3&id=28347 London, Asharq Al-Awsat – After less than two months of back-and-forth between media outlets in Britain and Iran, against the backdrop of the attack on the British Embassy in Tehran in November 2011, Sat, 03 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=28348 If you needed evidence that our region has entered a new phase, you should refer to the seminar which recently took place on the sidelines of the Davos World Economic Forum in Geneva, Switzerland. Sat, 03 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=28341 With the names of “authorized candidates” published by the Guardians’ Council, Iran’s parliamentary election campaign gets under way in earnest. However, some of the mullahs and politicians known Sat, 03 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=28350 Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat – Following news reports that the US, European and Arab states have begun discussing the possibility of exile for Bashar al-Assad, Syrian National Council [SNC] Executive Committee Sat, 03 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=28349 ARBIL, (AFP) — The Iraqiya bloc sent a "positive signal" by ending its parliament boycott, and its eventual return to the cabinet depends on how Iraq's premier responds, the country's fugitive vice president Sat, 03 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=28346 KUWAIT CITY, (AFP) — Kuwait's Islamist-led opposition has won a landslide majority in Kuwait's snap polls by securing 34 seats in the 50-member parliament, officials results released on Friday showed. Sunni Sat, 03 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=28345 BEIRUT, (Reuters) - Syrian forces shot dead one person in the city of Hama on Friday as they broke up a protest marking the anniversary of a 1982 massacre by troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad's Sat, 03 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=28344 TEHRAN, (Reuters) - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday Iran would retaliate over Western-backed oil sanctions and any threat of attack, after U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta Sat, 03 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=28343 UNITED NATIONS, (AFP) - UN Security Council members on Friday were considering a draft resolution condemning the bloody Syria crackdown that was amended in a bid to overcome Russian-led opposition. The Sat, 03 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=28342 CAIRO, (Reuters) - Rock-throwing protesters fought riot police through clouds of teargas to within meters of Egypt's Interior Ministry on a second day of clashes triggered by the deaths of 74 people in Sat, 03 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=3&id=28335 Erbil, Asharq Al-Awsat- Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi believes his greatest mistake was, “supporting Al-Maliki twice for the position of prime minister of Iraq.” Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat Fri, 02 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=28340 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States, European governments and Arab states have begun discussing the possibility of exile for Bashar al-Assad despite skepticism the defiant Syrian president is ready Fri, 02 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=28334 I think that al-Assad’s envoy to the United Nations, whose name appears in the title, sums up the whole story of Syria under its repressive, murderous regime. Al-Jaafari’s presentation to the Security Fri, 02 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=28339 With every moment that passes we realize our great need to express ourselves… We need the absolute right to express an opinion or feeling. We need to declare a stance and call for demonstrations, we Fri, 02 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=28333 At present, there are no Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, as the conditions laid down by Israel would render them doomed to failure before they even start. Yet the Palestinian side has no alternative Fri, 02 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=28329 CAIRO (AP) — Scores of Egyptian soccer fans were crushed to death while others were fatally stabbed or suffocated after being trapped in a long narrow corridor trying to flee rival fans armed with knives, Fri, 02 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=28330 BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip (AP) — Relatives of Palestinians held in Israeli jails flung slippers Thursday at an armored convoy carrying visiting U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon and tried to block the vehicles from Fri, 02 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=28331 BEIRUT (AP) — Russia's deputy defense minister says Moscow will not stop arms sales to Syria. Russian state news agencies quoted Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov on Thursday as saying Russia Fri, 02 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=28332 BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's highest court ratified death sentences on Thursday for three men convicted of a 2010 attack on a Syrian Catholic cathedral in Baghdad, the bloodiest attack on Iraqi Christians Fri, 02 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=28338 Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat – On Tuesday, a political debate on the Syrian crisis between Lebanese journalist Joseph Abou Fadel, who is close to the March 8 movement and the Syrian regime, and Syrian Fri, 02 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=28323 Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat – Khalid al-Zintani, head of the media committee for Zintan, the city where Saif al-Islam Gaddafi is currently being held, denied reports that Saif al-Islam will be transferred Thu, 01 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=28327 BAGHDAD, (AFP) — Iraq is to host an Arab summit on March 29, the first since the Arab Spring that swept away several dictators and brought Islamists to the fore, a senior Arab League official said on Thu, 01 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=28328 CAIRO, (Reuters) - Arriving in Egypt last year, Julie Hughes had hoped to help write history by aiding the country's new generation of politicians and civil society groups to build a democratic future. Instead, Thu, 01 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=28319 The General Guide of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Badie, fired his first real shot in a campaign that is supposed to officially start in April; the campaign to elect the President of Egypt, Thu, 01 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=28326 When one says that he supports democracy, but rejects the results of free elections because he did not like the outcome, then this person does not want true democracy, but rather autocracy dressed up Thu, 01 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=28320 Away from the potential outcome of the UN Security Council meeting on the Syrian revolution, there are many reports and much evidence regarding the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s rule, with many people Thu, 01 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=28315 KABUL, (Reuters) - The U.S. military said in a secret report the Taliban, backed by Pakistan, are set to retake control of Afghanistan after NATO-led forces withdraw from the country, raising the prospect Thu, 01 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=28316 VIENNA, (Reuters) - United Nations nuclear inspectors and Iranian officials held what both sides described as "good" talks in Iran about suspicions that the Islamic Republic was seeking to develop atomic Thu, 01 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=28317 MOSCOW, (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday it would veto any U.N. resolution on Syria that it finds unacceptable, after demanding any measure rule out military intervention to halt the bloodshed touched Thu, 01 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=28321 BAGHDAD, (AFP) — Iraq executed 17 convicted criminals in one day this week, the justice ministry said on Wednesday, bringing to at least 51 the number so far this year. "The justice ministry carried Thu, 01 Feb 2012 18:10:35 GMT