http://www.aawsat.com/english Asharq Alawsat English Edition is your insight into the Middle East en-us © 2005 Saudi Research and Publishing Sat, 12 Mar 2010 18:28:17 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=7&id=20197 Since the beginning of creation, Egyptians have been bright and witty and are usually the first to crack a joke, even if this joke is about themselves, as Egyptians are prepared to laugh at themselves Sat, 12 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=20200 The Kurds always dreamt of ruling their region, Kurdistan, and to be free after years of tyranny at the hands of the Saddam regime that deprived them of their own [traditional] clothing, language and Sat, 12 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=20194 One thing is at least clear from the success achieved by Operation Mushtarak against the Taliban in the most troubled parts of Afghanistan: if the NATO forces and their Afghan allies move on with the Sat, 12 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=20201 Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat - Whilst a senior Libyan official informed Asharq Al-Awsat that Libyan authorities are ready to hold the first Arab Summit in Libya at the end of this month, and that all logistic Sat, 12 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=20199 SANAA/NEW YORK, (Reuters) - Yemen said on Friday it was holding a U.S. citizen suspected of being an al Qaeda militant who killed a hospital guard last week, and a U.S. firm said the suspect had worked Sat, 12 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=20198 JERUSALEM, (Reuters) - Israeli forces sealed off the West Bank and massed riot squads around Jerusalem's Old City and Arab neighbourhoods during Muslim weekly prayers on Friday, facing down Palestinian Sat, 12 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=20193 UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.N. humanitarian chief warned Thursday of an impending humanitarian disaster if Egypt succeeds in blocking the tunnels that pass under it's border into the Gaza Strip. John Sat, 12 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=20192 ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that Persian Gulf allies understand sanctions are the inevitable next step in dealing with the threat of a nuclear Iran. He Sat, 12 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=20191 LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) - A pair of suicide bombers targeting army vehicles detonated explosives within seconds of each other Friday, killing at least 43 people in this eastern city and wounding about 100, Sat, 12 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=20190 MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - Fighting erupted in Somalia's capital for the third straight day Friday in some of the worst violence in nearly a year, as government-backed troops shelled the front lines of Sat, 12 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=20189 BAGHDAD, (Asharq Al-Awsat and Agencies) - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki posted mixed results in initial returns on Thursday from Iraq's parliamentary election, and a rival grouping complained of serious Sat, 12 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=20184 What we have seen from the preliminary results of the Iraqi elections has been excellent and remarkable; the sectarian leaderships have begun to weaken in Iraq, which means that Iraq is not turning Fri, 11 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=20187 Jeddah, Asharq Al-Awsat- Informed sources have stated to Asharq Al-Awsat that Somali pirates have asked for a ransom of $20 million for the release of the Saudi Arabian ship "Al-Nisr Al-Saudi" Fri, 11 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=20176 In an age that calls for transparency and clarity, the speech given by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz during the opening ceremony of the Second Year of the Shura Council's Fri, 11 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=20183 Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat- Mediation by Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi has resulted in a "compromise" being reached Fri, 11 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=20186 Regardless of whether it is Nuri al Maliki’s or Iyad Allawi’s bloc that will emerge victorious in the Iraqi elections, initial indications up until the publication of this article show that Allawi Fri, 11 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=20179 RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, (AP) – U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Saudi leaders Wednesday that the U.S. effort for diplomatic engagement with Iran had come to naught and he asked for the influential Fri, 11 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=20185 Q) In the light of the international aid that can be given to Yemen to help stabilize the country, what are the projects that Yemen places at the top of its priorities? A) Yemen needs huge aid. This Fri, 11 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=20177 RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) – Prospects for indirect peace talks lay in tatters on Thursday after the Palestinians said they would not negotiate with Israel unless it reversed plans to build 1,600 settler Fri, 11 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=20178 CAIRO, (AP) – The former U.N. nuclear chief turned Egyptian reform advocate has strongly condemned the beating of one of his supporters, allegedly by State Security agents. Mohamed ElBaradei said in Fri, 11 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=20180 GAZA (Reuters) – A British journalist was freed by the Hamas Islamist rulers of the Gaza Strip on Thursday, nearly four weeks after his arrest on suspicion of spying for Israel, Palestinian and British Fri, 11 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=20173 After the military operations against the Huthi rebels in Yemen ended, which also claimed the lives of many Al Qaeda members, the focus has now turned towards Somalia in order to break another link Thu, 10 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=20174 In an interview with the German Der Spiegel newspaper published by Asharq Al-Awsat last week, the Greek Prime Minister [Georgios Papandreou] – explaining the financial problems being faced by his country Thu, 10 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=20170 London, Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat- The Chairman of the Libyan National Oil Company [NOC] informed Asharq Al-Awsat that Tripoli is seeking to give precedence to Russia and China – at the expense of US oil Thu, 10 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=20169 I was watching a Middle East-based satellite news channel recently that carried a report about several teachers in Medina who gave their students ridiculous questions during an examination. When I Thu, 10 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=20175 No, never, in fact the opposite is true. Autocracy is far more infectious and capable of infiltrating minds and borders, and today dominates the entire region. Therefore there should be no fear for Thu, 10 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=20165 RAMALLAH, West Bank, (Reuters) - Palestinians told U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday that Israel's new plan to build 1,600 homes for Jewish settlers challenged Washington's efforts to get indirect Thu, 10 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=20166 CAIRO (AP) - Top Egyptian cleric Sheik Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, whose moderate views angered conservative Muslims, died of a heart attack Wednesday during a visit to Saudi Arabia, the state-owned news Thu, 10 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=20167 BAGHDAD, (Reuters) - Preliminary results of Iraq's parliamentary election, a vote seen as a litmus test of its young democracy, are likely to be released by Thursday, a United Nations official said on Thu, 10 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=20168 KABUL (AP) - Taking aim at the U.S., Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that it's the United States that is playing a "double game" in Afghanistan, fighting terrorists it once supported. At Thu, 10 Mar 2010 18:28:17 GMT