Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Media ID: 55334412
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In this Wednesday July 16, 2014 photo, and released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syria’s President Bashar Assad is sworn for his third, seven-year term, in Damascus, Syria. (AP Photo/SANA)

Opinion: Congratulations Assad, You Won

by Mshari Al-Zaydi | Jul 18, 2014 | Opinion

In the middle of the moral, political and mental chaos in the Arab world, a caliph is being appointed in Mosul to rule all Muslims—yes, all of them—and Bashar Al-Assad is being democratically elected as the president of Syria. What a bizarre scene! It exceeds anything...

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A general view of Algiers with the Kasbah in the background taken on June 5, 2014. AFP/Getty Images

Algerian artist Kader Attia tackles conflicted identities in his latest exhibition

by Sawsan Al-Abtah | Jul 18, 2014 | Lifestyle & Culture

Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat—A precondition for visiting the Contre Nature exhibition featuring work by Algerian artist Kader Attia is that you must don appropriate footwear. At the entrance of the exhibition held in the Beirut Art Center the artist has placed scrap metal,...

Media ID: 55334399
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Head of the Afghan Independent Election Commission (IEC), Ahmad Yousuf Nuristani (C) gestures during the start of the sorting of presidential ballot papers for the audit and recounting at the counting center at a warehouse in Kabul on July 17, 2014. (AFP/Wakil Khosar)

Opinion: A Way Out of Afghanistan’s Presidential Impasse

by Amir Taheri | Jul 18, 2014 | Opinion

By refusing to ride the tiger of demagoguery, Afghan presidential rivals Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah have demonstrated a welcome degree of statesmanship. Rather than pushing their country towards conflict—perhaps even civil war—the two men have agreed to sort...