Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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Saudi National Guard Minister Prince Miteb Bin Abdullah waves to troops in Arar. (Asharq Al-Awsat/Abdullah Al-Mohsen)

National Guard minister says no foreign troops defending Saudi territory

by Fahd Al-Zayabi | Aug 13, 2014 | Middle East

Arar, Asharq Al-Awsat—Saudi National Guard Minister Prince Miteb Bin Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz said that the Kingdom’s security forces were more than capable of dealing with any cross-border terrorist threats on Tuesday, denying reports that troops from friendly...

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Russian President Vladimir Putin, (L), and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meet in the Bocharov Ruchei residence in Sochi, Russia on February 8, 2014. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Mikhail Klimentyev, Presidential Press Service, File)

Japan “strongly protests” against Russian exercises on disputed isles

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Aug 13, 2014 | World

Tokyo, Reuters—Japan “strongly protested” on Wednesday against Russian military exercises on Pacific islands that it also claims and which have been at the root of strained relations between the two countries since the end of the Second World War. The...

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A wounded Palestinian boy, hoping to cross into Egypt with his family, is held by his mother as they wait at the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip August 12, 2014. (Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)

Rafah crossing open but movement slow: Palestinian official

by Mahmoud Abu Awad | Aug 13, 2014 | Middle East

Gaza, Asharq Al-Awsat—The Palestinian authorities are running an emergency service at the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt to help thousands of Palestinians who want to leave Gaza, a senior official told Asharq Al-Awsat. In comments to Asharq Al-Awsat, the...

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Egyptian Grand Mufti Shawqi Allam speaks to Asharq Al-Awsat in his Cairo office. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Egypt’s Grand Mufti: We need a new religious discourse

by Waleed Abdul Rahman | Aug 13, 2014 | Interviews

Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—During times, especially in recent years, when Islamic extremism seems to almost monopolize the media spotlight, attention often turns to the question of who truly represents the religion of Islam and carries the flame for the “authentic”...

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An image made available by Jihadist media outlet Welayat Raqa on July 25, 2014, shows allegedly shows members of the IS (Islamic state) militant group raising their black and white flag over a building belonging to a Syrian army base in the northern rebel-held Syrian city of Raqa. Islamic State fighters have seized Division 17 […]

Opinion: A Race to the Bottom

by Ali Ibrahim | Aug 13, 2014 | Opinion

It is odd that an organization that adopts an extremist ideology and is responsible for much bloodshed, such as Al-Qaeda, would feel embarrassed by another organization that outdoes it in terms of violence and cruelty, to the extent that it denounces it and distances...