Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Media ID: 55339801
Caption:

Somjit Bhuddharaj, 58, gestures after placing flowers next to a plaque with the name of his family, who was killed in the 2004 tsunami, at a wave-shaped memorial in Ban Nam Khem, a southern fishing village destroyed by the wave, December 26, 2014. (Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha)

Asia remembers devastating 2004 tsunami with tears and prayers

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Dec 26, 2014 | World

Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Reuters—Survivors of Asia’s 2004 tsunami and relatives of its 226,000 victims cried and prayed as they gathered along Indian Ocean shorelines on Friday for memorials to mark the 10th anniversary of a disaster that still leaves an indelible...

Media ID: 55339782
Caption:

President Barack Obama smiles during a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, Dec. 19, 2014. The president claimed an array of successes in 2014, citing lower unemployment, a rising number of Americans covered by health insurance, and an historic diplomatic opening with Cuba. He also touts […]

Opinion: Obama’s second term surprises

by Amir Taheri | Dec 26, 2014 | Opinion

Just before his second election win, President Barack Obama was caught by a surreptitiously live microphone whispering confidences in the ears of the then Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. The gist of the whisper, later broadcast by eavesdroppers in the US media, was...

Media ID: 55339505
Caption:

A member of the Al-Nusra Front sits in tank decorated with the Al-Nusra flag near Al-Zahra village, north of Aleppo city, November 25, 2014.
(REUTERS/Hosam Katan)

Syria’s war enters new year more fragmented than ever

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Dec 25, 2014 | Middle East

Beirut, Reuters— Deep into its fourth year of conflict, Syria looks less and less like a state than a patchwork of warring fiefdoms, making outside powers more reluctant to intervene even as it becomes more destabilizing for the region. The United States finally...

Media ID: 55295992
Caption:

Pope Francis speaks during a meeting with the media at the Pope VI hall, at the Vatican, Saturday, March 16, 2013. Source: AP Photo/Michael Sohn

Pope’s Christmas address condemns ISIS ‘brutal persecution’

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Dec 25, 2014 | World

Vatican City, Reuters—Pope Francis condemned the “brutal persecution” of minorities by Islamic State of Ira and Syria (ISIS) insurgents in his Christmas message on Thursday and urged people not to be indifferent to the suffering of so many around the...

Media ID: 55291147
Caption:

(AAA Photo)

Saudi Arabia announces 2015 budget

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Dec 25, 2014 | Business

Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat—Saudi Arabia announced its 2015 budget on Thursday, projecting spending of 860 billion riyals and revenues of 715 billion riyals, leaving a projected deficit of 145 billion riyals. The projected spending for 2015 is slightly higher than the...