The Latest Breaking News from Asharq Al-Awsat

Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman sponsored on Tuesday the graduation of the 81 batch of cadets from the King Abdul Aziz Military Academy at its headquarters in Al-Uyayna.. Prince Khalid was welcomed at the academy by Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant-General Fayyadh bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili, commander of…

A report issued by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies has issued recommendations for the US administration to stop what it described as the “diversion" and “theft” of aid by Bashar Assad’s regime. “The United States has spent over $14.1 billion on humanitarian assistance for Syria, more than any other…

China, Iran and Russia are conducting joint naval exercises in the Gulf of Oman from March 15-19, the Chinese and Russian defence ministries said on Wednesday. The drills, the 2023 edition of the "Marine Security Belt" exercises, will help "deepen practical cooperation among the navies of participating countries", China's defence…

Nobel Peace Prize-winning Iranian lawyer Shirin Ebadi on Wednesday urged the EU to maintain pressure on the authorities in Tehran over human rights violations. "Subordinate aid to Iran, contracts with Iran, and treaties with Iran to respecting international norms, otherwise the money will not benefit the Iranian people at all,"…

Iran's Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Shamkhani will visit the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Thursday, amid regional rapprochement, Nour News, which is affiliated with the Iranian top security body, reported. His visit to Abu Dhabi comes at a time of growing rapprochement between Iran and Gulf countries.

Making megastars BTS do their South Korean military service is slowing the global growth of K-pop, the chairman of the septet's agency HYBE said Wednesday. The boyband are widely considered South Korea's biggest-ever cultural phenomenon, selling out stadiums around the world and dominating the charts while raking in billions for…

Ukrainian troops on Wednesday defended positions in Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine amid a relentless push by Russian forces to capture a city that has been turned into a wasteland by seven months of fighting. Both sides claimed successes in what has become the longest-running battle since Russia launched its full-scale…

Thousands of Syrians demonstrated in the war-ravaged country's opposition-held northwest on Wednesday, marking 12 years since the start of pro-democracy protests and rejecting any international "normalization" with Damascus. The brutal repression of the 2011 protests, which began during the so-called "Arab Spring" uprisings, triggered a complex civil war that drew…

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed discussed efforts to reach sustainable peace in Tigray on Wednesday, Blinken's spokesperson said, as both sides seek to mend diplomatic ties damaged by the war there. During a two-and-a-half-hour meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, Blinken and…