The Latest Breaking News from Asharq Al-Awsat

Oman is offering three oil and gas concession areas for local and international local companies, a statement for the ministry of energy and minerals said on Sunday. The offering is open between March 26 and June 25, according to the statement published on Twitter.

Russia and China are not creating a military alliance and the cooperation between their armed forces is "transparent", President Vladimir Putin said in comments broadcast on Sunday, days after hosting Chinese leader Xi Jinping in the Kremlin. Putin and Xi professed friendship and pledged closer ties, including in the military…

Saudi Aramco and joint venture partners NORINCO Group and Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group plan to start construction of a major integrated refinery and petrochemical complex in northeast China, Aramco said in a statement on Sunday. Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Company (HAPCO), a joint venture between Aramco (30%), NORINCO Group (51%) and…

At least 29 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa died when their two boats sank off the coast of Tunisia as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to Italy, the Tunisian coast guard said on Sunday. Separately, in the last four days, five migrant boats have sunk off the coast of the…

Libya’s coast guard fired warning shots over a humanitarian vessel as it attempted to rescue a rubber boat carrying migrants off Libya's coast, a sea rescue group said.

Saudi Arabia’s crowdfunding platform for home ownership Jood Eskan has launched a first-of-a-kind charitable campaign to raise SAR1 billion ($266 million) in donations during the Holy month of Ramadan. Titled ‘Ever-Green Stock,’ Jood Eskan’s charitable campaign is an IPO simulation that targets Saudi Arabia's most prominent corporations, institutions, and individuals.…

Iran Special Police Commander Hassan Karami called on Saturday for doubling the number of security forces in anticipation of possible protests in 400 locations in the country. Karami said that confronting the protests would be part of the agenda of the military institution during the new Iranian year. State-owned Mehr…

Lebanon has woken up in two time zones amid an escalating dispute between political and religious authorities over the government’s decision to postpone winter clock changes till after Islam’s holy month of fasting, Ramadan, is over. Rising tensions, which reflected fragile ties between Lebanon’s social components, had forced caretaker Prime…

The Iraqi army forces escalated security measures on the border with Syria to tighten the security gaps between the two countries. An official source of the local administration of al-Anbar governorate announced that army forces had begun field reconnaissance operations on the border strip areas with Syria. According to the…

Iran warned of a “decisive counter-response” if new US strikes are launched against bases operated by its proxy militias in Syria. The bases, according to an Iranian security spokesperson, were created at the request of Damascus to deal with terrorism and ISIS elements. Distinguishing between anti-terrorism military bases where Iran…

Facing a potential indictment, Donald Trump took a defiant stance at a rally Saturday in Waco, disparaging the prosecutors investigating him and predicting his vindication as he rallied supporters in a city made famous by deadly resistance against law enforcement. With a hand over his heart, Trump stood at attention…