Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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In this file photo released Sept. 24, 2014 by the official Saudi Press Agency, Saudi pilots sits in the cockpit of a fighter jet as part of U.S.-led coalition airstrikes on Islamic State militants and other targets in Syria, in Saudi Arabia. (AP Photo/Saudi Press Agency, File)

Opinion: Saudi Arabia, between War and Development

by Mshari Al-Zaydi | May 9, 2015 | Opinion

Can a country be at war while at the same time seek to improve its growth, development and services? Or to put it another way: Can you hold the sword in one hand, and the pen and ruler in the other? A well-established and stable state can do this, moving seamlessly...

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Iraqi artist Wissam Al-Farati holds his lutes, named “Tigris” and “Euphrates,” which he fashioned out of a soldier’s helmet and a pickaxe used to dig battle trenches, at his home in Baghdad, Iraq. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Iraqi artist transforms instruments of war into “instruments of peace”

by Manaf Al-Obaidi | May 9, 2015 | Lifestyle & Culture

Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—In a recent video posted on the Internet, Karim Wasfi, an Iraqi musician and the former conductor of Iraq’s National Symphony Orchestra, walks into a car bomb site in Baghdad with his cello and starts playing a sad, haunting melody he had...

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A member of the Iraqi Interior Ministry’s anti-terrorism forces stands guard on a vehicle outside the Habaniyah military base, near Anbar province’s capital Ramadi, on May 8, 2015. (AFP Photo/Ahmad Al-Rubaye)

Dozens escape Iraqi prison, 50 inmates, 12 police killed: officials

by Asharq Al-Awsat | May 9, 2015 | Middle East

Baghdad, Reuters—Fifty inmates and 12 policemen were killed when a riot erupted and dozens escaped from an Iraqi prison holding hundreds of people jailed for acts of terrorism, security and police officials said on Saturday. The deaths occurred on site at the...

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Ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on April 26, 2014 during his retrial over charges of failing to stop the killings of protesters during the 2011 uprising, in Cairo, Egypt. (AP Photo/Tarek El-Gabbas, File)

Egyptian court sentences Mubarak, sons to 3 years in jail

by Asharq Al-Awsat | May 9, 2015 | Middle East

Cairo, Reuters—An Egyptian court sentenced former president Hosni Mubarak and his two sons to three years in jail without parole on Saturday in the retrial of a corruption case. Mubarak, who ruled Egypt with an iron fist for 30 years, and his sons Gamal and Alaa may...

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Egyptian FM Sameh Shokri at his office in the Egyptian Foreign Ministry building in Cairo, Egypt, on October 20, 2014. (EPA/Khaled Elfiqi)

Egypt FM: Arab League close to forming joint military force

by Sawsan Abu-Husain | May 9, 2015 | Middle East

Asmara, Eritrea, Asharq Al-Awsat—The Arab League is moving closer to forming a joint Arab military force to deal with the conflicts raging in the region, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shokri has said. Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on the sidelines of a state visit to...