Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Media ID: 55368131
Caption:

Police officers gather outside the morgue at Kuala Lumpur General Hospital where Kim Jong Nam’s body was held for autopsy in Malaysia February 16, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su

North Korea’s Kim Jong Nam Killed with Globally Banned VX

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Feb 25, 2017 | World

Kuala Lumpur- VX nerve agent, a chemical the United Nations classifies as a weapon of mass destruction, was used to kill the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in a bizarre murder in Malaysia last week, police said on Friday. Kim Jong Nam was...

Media ID: 55368129
Caption:

U.N. Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura at the fourth round of intra-Syrian talks in Geneva (Reuters)

Geneva 4: Procedural Matters Dominate Talks as Regime, Opposition Delegations Agree to Sit Together

by Michel Abu Najm | Feb 25, 2017 | Middle East

Paris – Procedural issues overshadowed the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva on Friday, ahead of expected first-time direct negotiations between the regime and opposition delegations – a move seen as the fruit of hard efforts deployed by U.N. Special Envoy Staffan de...

Media ID: 55368126
Caption:

Syrian rebels walk in the northwestern border town of al-Bab on February 24, 2017. Nazeer al-Khatib / AFP

Al-Bab Liberation Ruins Kurdish Dream of Federal State

by Paula Astih | Feb 25, 2017 | Middle East

Beirut- After the Turkish-backed Euphrates Shield Forces controlled al-Bab city, Syria’s Kurds began to feel that their dream of having a “federal state” has faltered although it was not completely shattered. The latest developments in the battlefield in the Syrian...

Media ID: 55368123
Caption:

Iraqi and U.S. forces deploy near Mosul’s international airport, in western Mosul, Iraq, Feb. 24, 2017. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed)

Battles in West Mosul Neighborhoods, ISIS Closes Alleyways

by Dalshad Abdullah | Feb 25, 2017 | Middle East

Mosul- As Iraqi forces entered for the first time two neighborhoods in west Mosul, ISIS responded by quickly advancing towards the downtown, closing alleyways and tightening the grip on civilians to prevent them from escaping to the city’s east side. Lt. Gen Shaker...

Media ID: 55368121
Caption:

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu / AFP PHOTO / ADEM ALTAN

Signs of New Regional Alliance

by Amir Taheri | Feb 25, 2017 | Features

London- It was only last month that political circles in Ankara, Moscow and Tehran were abuzz about a new triple alliance of Turkey, Russia and Iran to end the conflict in Syria and reshape the Middle East. A summit, slated for early March, was supposed to give that...