Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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Lebanese Druze leader and Lebanese Progressive Socialist Party chairman Walid Jumblatt speaks to the press after a meeting with the French president at the Elysée Palace in Paris in this June 30, 2014, file photo. (AFP PHOTO/DOMINIQUE FAGET)

Jumblatt initiative to break Lebanon’s presidential deadlock fails

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Jul 16, 2014 | Middle East

Beirut and London, Asharq Al-Awsat—A proposal by the head of the Lebanese parliament’s Democratic Gathering bloc, Walid Jumblatt, to end Lebanon’s presidential deadlock failed on Tuesday. Jumblatt said he was willing to withdraw his party’s presidential candidate if...

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A Palestinian man reads a leaflet dropped by Israeli Defense Forces over the Shuja’iyya neighborhood in east Gaza City, 16 July 2014. (EPA/OLIVER WEIKEN)

Israel poised for Gaza incursions after truce collapses

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Jul 16, 2014 | Middle East

Gaza/Jerusalem, Reuters—Israel urged the evacuation on Wednesday of several Gaza Strip areas where more than 100,000 people live, threatening ground operations after briefly holding fire under an Egyptian truce proposal that failed to stop Palestinian rocket salvos....

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Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff (left) welcomes South African President Jacob Zuma upon his arrival to the 6th BRICS summit in Fortaleza, Brazil, on July 15, 2014. (AFP Photo/Yasuyoshi Chiba)

BRICS set up bank to counter Western hold on global finances

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Jul 16, 2014 | Business

Fortaleza, Reuters—Leaders of the BRICS emerging market nations launched a 100-billion-US-dollar development bank and a currency reserve pool on Tuesday in their first concrete step toward reshaping the Western-dominated international financial system. The bank aimed...

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An Iraqi policeman stands near burning vehicles moments after one in a series of bombs hit the Shi’ite stronghold of Sadr City, in Baghdad, Iraq, on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

Opinion: The Circle of Chaos

by Ali Ibrahim | Jul 16, 2014 | Opinion

There is no greater evidence of chaos enveloping the Middle East than the Libyan foreign minister’s inability to attend a meeting of the country’s neighbors in Tunis. The meeting went ahead in his absence, and he was represented by the Libyan chargé d’affaires...

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Anchor at China Central Television, Rui Chenggang, moderates a session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on January 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

China’s state TV targeted in anti-corruption drive

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Jul 16, 2014 | Media

Beijing, AP—For months, Chinese state television has publicized a steady drumbeat of accusations of bribery and other abuses by a string of officials. Now, the state-run broadcaster faces allegations of graft in its own ranks. Since late May, at least six people at...