The Latest Breaking News from Asharq Al-Awsat

Ukraine has banned its national sports teams from competing in Olympic, non-Olympic and Paralympic events that include competitors from Russia and Belarus, the sports ministry said in a decree published on Friday. The decision, criticized by some Ukrainian athletes, comes after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) angered Kyiv by paving…

Chinese tablet and phone maker Xiaomi said on Friday it strongly opposed Ukraine adding the company to the "international sponsors of war" list. Ukraine's National Corruption Prevention Agency designated Xiaomi on the list, according to an April 13 press release, and reported by local media. According to the agency, Xiaomi…

Tensions between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have peaked, with both sides resorting to military mobilization and counter-mobilization. International, regional, and domestic mediators from civil and armed factions have rushed to take urgent action to halt the mutual escalation and calm the situation before it worsens.…

The Secretary-General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Hussein al-Sheikh, met in Ramallah with the US Special Representative for Palestinian Affairs, Hady Amr, to discuss the recent field tensions with Israel. In a statement by the German News Agency, Sheikh said that he briefed Amr on…

North Korea said Friday it flight-tested a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time, a possible breakthrough in its efforts to acquire a more powerful, harder-to-detect weapon targeting the continental United States. North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency issued the report a day after the country’s neighbors detected…

Ukrainian troops have been forced to withdraw from some territory in the battlefield city of Bakhmut as Russia mounts a renewed assault there with intense artillery fire over the past two days, Britain said in an intelligence update on Friday. "Russia has re-energized its assault on the Donetsk Oblast town…

China's foreign minister on Friday said the country would not sell weapons to parties involved in the conflict in Ukraine and would regulate the export of items with dual civilian and military use. Qin Gang was responding to concerns from the US and others that China was considering providing military…

The Yemeni government and the Houthis will swap prisoners and detainees starting Friday as part of a deal concluded in Switzerland.

A Lebanese official following the relations between former President Michel Aoun with Hezbollah said the “marriage” between them, which was held at a Maronite church in Beirut’s southern suburbs in 2006, is over. All that is left is for them to announce the official divorce, marking an end to an…

The Index of Incitement against Palestinians in the Israeli media and social networks increased by 75 percent in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year and by 67 percent compared to 2021, the Nazareth-based press freedom NGO I'lam Media Center revealed on Thursday. I’lam said…

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps intelligence unit announced it retrieved $560 million in revenues from frozen mining sector exports abroad. The KhabarOnline news agency reported that the IRGC's public relations returned over 92 percent of the financial pledges to the Chadormalu Mining and Industrial Company in Yazd province, equivalent to…